One Woman May Be The Difference
by ATildeProduction
Summary: More than anything Gabrielle wants to get out and experience true adventures. So when she poses as a man and takes her father's spot the Imperial Army to stop Callisto's rampage, what will happen? Based on Disney's Mulan.
1. The Attack

_ok this is my first fanfic so don't kill me if it sucks xP I got the idea after I made a Mulan trailer in Xena style with Gabrielle as Mulan and Xena as Shang.. so it's pretty much the whole Mulan story, with a few twists and changes and other characters ^^ The story has a mix of serious writing (I hope XP) and humor so I hope you like it!_

_Now I already finished writing the story so I won't change anything, I'll try and update at leats once every day ^^_

_**I own nothing! (unfortunately...) **  
_

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**Chapter 1**

In the silent night a lone warrior was standing guard by the wall. As he gazed out into the dark horizon, he could neither see nor hear any danger. Not a whisper in the wind, no nothing. Everything was calm and safe… or so he thought.

A mighty hawk flew over the guard's head, missing him only by a couple of inches. The guard ducked by reflects as he heard the hawk screech into the night. He looked up in both wonder and fear.

"By the gods…"

Suddenly a grappling hook appeared before him and attached itself to the parapet. He looked at it strangely before edging towards it, his curiosity overtaking him. As he slowly looked over the wall and into a pool of darkness, dozens more grappling hooks appeared before him, finding their targets by the great wall. The lone warrior ran towards the stairs, while warning is comrades of the sudden attack.

'We're under attack! Light the signal!'

But he was alone, just him and the intruders. Men were coming from all corners, laughing maliciously as they were closing up to backed up against the wall and his back hit a wooden ladder. He looked over his shoulders and his eyes were filled with new hope. He needed to warn the rest, he needed to light the signal. He quickly climbed up the ladder as a sword missed his feet by a mere couple of inches. He could feel the ladder break under him and he quickly grabbed the cold surface before him and dragged himself up the rest of the way.

As he climbed over the edge his hands found the already lit torch hanging on the wall and just as he was about the lit the bonfire, signalizing the attack, a blond-haired woman jumped over the edge opposite him.

A terrifying war cry filled the air and the warrior gasped in horror as he knew perfectly well who was standing before him. Before wasting another second of his precious time, the warrior lit the bonfire, and a great fire emerged between the two warriors. The blond-haired woman looked out the horizon, and just as she expected, bonfires were lit, one by one.

'Now all of Greece will know you're here.'

The woman slowly turned towards the other warrior whom so desperately tried to hide his fear. She simply smiled at him as she drew her sword from the scabbard on her back.

'Perfect.'

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_So that was the first chapter.. pretty much taken right out of the movie but hey it was kinda necessary xP_

_so good? bad? hmm? Gabrielle won't be introduced until the 3rd chapter I think and Xena a lil later_


	2. The Emperor

_Yay second chapter! it's really short, so I'll do a double update today^^ the next chapter will introduce Gabrielle ;)_

_I had Caesar be the Emperor becausde... well duh! because he's the Emperor! and I wanted to make him a nice guy for once^^ Brutus will be the annoying stick man! (feel sorry for the guy...)_

_Also thank you to those who reviewed on the first chapter! You have no idea how much your opinion means to me:)  
_

_**I own nothing! (only in my dreams...)**  
_

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**Chapter 2**

'Where are they now?' Caesar asked as he signs yet another document.

'Callisto's army has just crossed the northern border, your majesty.' The general says as he bows down in front of the Emperor. The general is elderly and his eyes have the wisdom given to him from years of battle.

'Impossible, we had our best defenders by the northern border.' The Emperor's advisor speaks up, his high pitched voice filling the great hall. Caesar holds up a hand to silence him.

'We'll set up defenses around your palace immediately,' the general is just about to turn to continue with his duties but the Emperor speaks with determination.

'No! Send your troops to protect my people.' Caesar stands up and turns towards his advisor. 'Brutus!'

The advisor takes a deep bow and his high pitched voice rings through the hall again as he speaks.

'Yes, your highness.' his quill ready in one hand and a fresh new scroll in the other.

'Deliver conscription notices throughout all of Greece. Call up reserves! We need as many new recruits as possible.' The Emperor walks towards the elderly general.

'Forgive me, your majesty… But I believe my army can stop Callisto.' The warrior straightens up in his place as he speaks.

'I won't take any chances, general. A single grain of rice can tip the scale… one man may be the difference between victory and defeat.' The general bows down as he lets the Emperor's words sink in.

'Very well, your majesty'

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_Very short, sorry for that... the next chapter is up though ^^ this was just boring and necessary stuff to make the story begin... I know it's taken right out of the movie buuuuuuut like I said necessary... and I kind of already finished the story, so no changes.. sorry._


	3. The Struggling Bard

_Here's the next update^^ Enjoy! This chapter is fairly different from the movie, I was supposed to add Horace as Little Brother buuuuuuuuuut it never happened and I just didn't see any reason in adding him.. except that he's cute XP_

_okeeeey on with the story!_

_**Again I own nothing! (Though I wish I owned Gabrielle adorable smile...)**_

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**Chapter 3**

'Gabrielle!'

A young girl, with long golden hair, was sitting under a little tree, scribbling away one a piece of parchment. As she scribbled she muttered the words to herself, trying to listen to how the words fit together.

'I sing the song of Hercules. A man who possessed the strength surpassed only by the power of his heart... nah that's not good enough' she sighed as she curled the parchment into a little ball and threw it away.

'GABRIELLE!' the girl's head peeked up from behind tree, watching as her sister ran towards her.

'There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you!' The sister was slightly older than Gabrielle. Her dark hair danced in the wind as she ran towards her sister.

'What's the problem, Lila? Is father ok?' Gabrielle frantically asked as she got to her feet. Lila leaned against the tree as she tried to gain her breath back.

'No father is fine, but he wishes to speak with you.' Gabrielle sighed as she picked up her quill and scrolls from the grassy ground. 'Alright then, where is he?'

'He's down by the river,' Lila answered.

Gabrielle left her sister by the tree as she ran through the forest and just barely hear her sister calling after her 'you're welcome!'

Gabrielle continued down the garden, and when she caught eye of the river she sped up her pace. Her eyes caught the figure of an old man leaning on a cane as he looked down at the peaceful water. 'Father!'

'Gabrielle, my dear. Just the one I wanted to speak to.' The older man gave his daughter a hug. 'Rolan and his son Perdicus are coming today and I would like you to make a good impression when they get here.' Gabrielle simply nodded and looked down at her feet. Her father didn't notice this and continued. 'I hear Perdicus is quite smitten by you, my dear.' He gave Gabrielle a warm smile as he lifted her chin with his fingers. 'And he's quite the handsome young man too, don't you think?'

Gabrielle smiled back at her father before she turned to the river, away from her father's view. Her smile faded. 'Yes… I reckon he is.' The old man looked at his daughter in concern and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Is something wrong?' Gabrielle just shook her head and smiled.

'No father, everything's fine... I'll go and get your tea' She placed a kiss on her father's cheek and walked away.

When she was finally out of sight, the trees and their shadows hiding her fairly well, she sighed and leaned against one of the trees. She started thinking about what her father had said.

Perdicus was a fine young man yes, but she didn't fancy him in that way. He was kindhearted and even had quite a brilliant mind on some occasions and maybe in the eyes of all the other young women in Potidaea he was the perfect husband. But not for her… he was just so dull. She wanted to explore the world, see wonders upon wonders! Not sit around in an old farm… but she had to do this, she had to play nice with Perdicus if she was ever going to bring honor to her family.

Though if something would 'accidently' happen then… that wouldn't directly be her fault… would it?

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_Yes I'm adding Perdicus to the mix too! but don't worry, he won't do anything to make u not like him ;) ...I hope... well he's not gonna get in the way, if u know what I mean!_

_Next update will be, most likely not until weekend, since I'm going to Denmark... until then :)_


	4. Ready to Serve

_ok so the internet connection REALLY sucks down here, but I promised an update^^ so here it is! I'll have an extra update up tomorrow or on monday, depending on how busy I am XP_

_thank you to those who have reviewed! Those people already have some experience from writing and I can't thank them enough for their opinion! You've told me to rather use my own ideas than keep it completely with the Mulan storyline and I know I know, if I continue writing I will work from scratch ;) But like I said, this story is already finished so if I'm going to make any changes, only minor changes will be made.. trust me it won't go COMPLETELY like the Mulan story ;)_

_now that that's been said... enjoy!_

**_Disclaimer: yadda yadda yadda not mine, I own nothing, yadda yadda yadda (though I wish I owned Gabby's nose crinkle *SWOON*)_**

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**Chapter 4**

The visit didn't go too well… now I know what you're all going to say, but it really was an accident! ... Or at least the part where Gabrielle spilled the tea all over Perdicus was… She blamed the old carpet for that. In the end Rolan just complained about how Gabrielle was a disgrace, how her manners were plain awful and how she would never find a husband that would want a wife that can't even serve tea correctly. "She may look like a bride, but she will never bring your family honor!" he told Gabrielle's father. It stung for Gabrielle to hear that... The 'tea incident' seemed to be the last straw as Rolan angrily stormed out of the house with a disappointed (and soaked) Perdcus following. He didn't seem angry at Gabrielle... Just simply disappointed. Guess he really was smitten by her. Poor guy, she didn't want to hurt him like that... and she surely didn't want to spill hot tea all over him.

Oh well, what's done is done... no need to cry over spilt milk, or in this case tea. Hey wait, that's pretty good. Gabrielle was considering writing that down, but naah.

After the brief visit Gabrielle's father was silent. Like Perdicus, he wasn't angry, just disappointed. He wanted a good husband for his daughter and he really hoped that Perdicus would be the one, but alas. He didn't understand it. Gabrielle was never really this clumsy, she was always a good girl, did her chores and everything. Why the sudden change? Was she maybe nervous over meeting young Perdicus?

Gabrielle had walked out to sit on the bench in the garden, and he decided to follow her.

He wanted to know what went wrong. As he sat down next to his daughter everything went silent for a while. He didn't know how to start so he tried to do some small talk. He looked down at all the beautiful flowers and smiled. "Well would you look at that. I must say, we have some beautiful blossoms this year."

Gabrielle didn't acknowledge him and he tried again. He noticed a late bloomer among the beautiful flowers and pointed towards it. 'Though it seems this one is a little late… but I'll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of them all." As he said that he brushed away the hair covering Gabrielle's face and he could see a small smile. Though what he didn't know was that it was sad smile.

Gabrielle loved her father dearly, but how was she ever going to be able to tell him that, she didn't want to marry Perdicus or anyone yet for that matter. How was she ever going to be able to tell him that what she really wanted was to explore, to truly live life.

Her thoughts were interrupted by distant drums, signalizing that someone were coming.

And by the look on her father's face, it was something serious approaching Potidaea. 'What is it?' she asked her father, but he did not respond. He rose from his seat and clutched his cane.

Six men on horseback rode towards their house and Gabrielle's father went down to greet them, but not before he told Gabrielle to stay inside the house. Gabrielle did as her father told her and went into the house, but decided not to close the door and rather stay close to it so that she could better hear people speak. The men seemed to arrive from the other side of the marked, because several villagers were following them by foot in the distance and by the looks of the flags they were sent by the Roman Empire. A very thin man with a very annoying high pitched voice spoke to all the people that had gathered around. 'Citizens! I bring a proclamation from the Roman Empire! Callisto's army has invaded Greece!" People gasped in horror and some started talking among themselves.

"By order of the Emperor, one man from every family must serve in the imperial army!" everything became silent and Gabrielle held her breath as she listened closely to what would be said next. 'I will call the men that are listened on my scroll' the man continued.

'Tristan' A young man in his thirties came up, bowed, and accepted a scroll from one of the five soldiers.

The man continued to read from his scroll and never once looked up as he called out the names.

'Rolan' Rolan lifted his head as he heard is name and went to retrieve his scroll. But just as he was about to take it, Perdicus stopped between his father and the soldier.

'I will serve the emperor in my father's place' and with that, Perdicus took the scroll and walked his father back into the house. People watched them leave and again started talking among themselves. Gabrielle looked after Perdicus as he left. That was very kindhearted of him to go in his father's place. It made her have more respect for the young man.

The thin man looked closely at his scroll and for the first time he looked up, and searched for the man he was about to call. Gabrielle held her breath, fearing the worst.

'Herodotus,' Gabrielle gasped in complete horror as her father stood up straight and walked towards the thin man and his five companions, leaving his cane in the hands of Lila who had followed the rest of the people from the marked. She had the same scared look on her face as Gabrielle. Herodotus stopped in front of the six men and bowed.

'I am ready to serve the emperor.' One of the warriors handed him a scroll just like the others and just as Herodotus was about to take it Gabrielle spoke up. 'Father you can't go!'

Herodotus whispered her name in surprise as she dodged the other villagers and stop in front of her father as if to protect him somehow. She pleaded towards the warrior with the scroll.

'Please sir, my father has already fought bravely…' Before she could finish her sentence she was interrupted by the thin man stepping in front of her. 'Silence!' the man looked angrily at the father and the daughter as he spoke towards Herodotus this time. 'Heodotus, you will know better than to allow your daughter to speak like that in a man's presence.' The man turned towards the warrior with the scroll.

Herodotus walked up behind his daugther. 'Gabrielle!' The blonde reluctantly turned to her father and when she did her heart skipped a beat. He was looking her straight in the eyes, his own dark with anger. 'You ashame me, Gabrielle..' he said with a voice just above a whisper.

'I thought I had taught you better than this. You will not disobey me again, Gabrielle.' Gabrielle looked her father with shock, tears forming in her eyes. 'Now I'm only going to tell you this once more, go inside! This is not a place for a young girl such as you.' She felt like collapsing right there and then. Her father had never said those words to her.. ever.

She knew she wasn't the perfect daugther, but now she only tried to do the right thing. We all knew, he wouldn't survive another war. He had almost had his life taken from him once. She couldn't let that happen again.. no... she _wouldn't_ let that happen again.

Lila came up and placed her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders 'I'll take her inside father.. Come on, Gabrielle, let's go inside.' She led Gabrielle back into the house, before the blonde could do anything more. Heodotus turned back towards the thin man. 'I'm sorry about that, Brutus. she's had a bad day, she's never usually like this.'

'Just make sure it doesn't happen again, Herodotus. Report to camp tomorrow morning.' The thin man, named Brutus, handed Herodotus his scroll and and the older veteran bowed as low as he could in return has he took the scroll. 'Yes sir…' Herodotus turned away and headed back into the house. As he walked in he noticed Lila and Gabrielle standing by the door, both on the verge of tears.

He just looked away and continued towards his bedchamber. In the distance they could hear the thin man still calling up names of men in the village. Argus, Salmoneus, Morrin, Virgil, William, most of them had once fought in the previous war, but unlike Herodotus, they were all still fairly young and strenght to fight.

Lila said she needed to go back to the marked because she didn't get to buy all the supplies she needed to due to the interruption. When Lila was gone Gabrielle slowly and silently walked towards her father's bedchamber. And when she peeked through his door, she saw him. Standing with his back turned, sword ready in his hand, shining in the moonlight. With elegance he moved the sword, almost in slow motion at first, picking up a little more speed for every second that went. He got ready to strike the invisible enemy, but just as he was about to strike he suddenly clutched his mid in pain and lost the sword. Gabrielle gasped, she wanted to go and help him, but was too afraid that if he saw her, he would be even more disappointed of her. Herodotus slowly got to his feet again and leaned against the wall as he tried to desperately catch his breath. He wasn't the warrior he used to be. His leg was never the same after the last war, and his body was catching up to his old age.

He wouldn't last a second out there and he knew it. And so did Gabrielle.

'Oh gods, what am I going to do?' He asked himself in barely a whisper, though Gabrielle heard him perfectly. The question wasn't, what was he going to do... the question was, what was _she_ going to do.

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Good? Bad? Meh? Oh please, u loved it! (I hope..) lol the chapter has been changed though ^^

oh well, partly follows the Mulan story (ok 97% follows the Mulan story, the 3% is my attempt at adding stuff LOL). though I hope you like it so far ^^


	5. To Die for Honor

_Soooooooo sorry for not updating! The internet here has been terrible and I've been rather busy T_T I want to thank those who reviewed and gave me their opinions, they really help ^^ I've changed the previous chapter thanks to some advice I got and also changed this chapter as well. Despite the fact that the story is already written, I will change as much as I can^^_

_for now enjoy this chapter, I'll try and be back with a new one tomorrow, when the **real** story begins lol! _

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything... (except for the cat ^^) **_

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**Chapter 5**

Gabrielle poured her father some more tea as Lila served the dinner. There were only the three of them. The mother had died a few years back, and since then the three of them had taken care of each other. But now the two young girls feared they would lose their father as well as their mother. Gabrielle looked at her sister, whom for some reason found her tea and nutbread very interesting and wouldn't let her eyes wander anywhere else but to the warm liquid. Gabrielle then looked at her father who was silently eating his dinner.

Everything was silent, no one spoke a word. In the end Gabrielle had enough, and she slammed her tea against the old wooden table. 'You can't go! You shouldn't have to do this!' she yelled as she stood up. 'Gabrielle!' Lila warned her against defying her father yet again but Gabrielle didn't listen. She was tired of being silent. She wanted to be heard. 'Ceasar has plenty of young men who will fight for Greece! He does not need you! You've already served your time! You've already done all you can do? Why send you to your death?' Herodotus kept calm and like earlier he looked her straight into the eyes. 'If Ceasar wants me to fight, I will do so. It is an honor for me to serve the Emperor once again.'

'So you'll die for honor?' She almost spit out. Herodotus rose from his seat, while using his cane as support. 'I will die doing what's right, Gabrielle! You're too young to understand.' Gabrielle became desperate. 'But if you…-'

Again she was interrupted, this time by her father who was no longer calm. 'I know my place! … It is time you learn yours.'

Gabrielle's eyes went wide as his words sunk in. And again her eyes were filled with new tears ready to come out. She turned away from her father and her sister and ran out of the house. She ran through the garden and into the forest, where the shadows from the trees kept her hidden and protected from more pain. She began sobbing and her tears were finally freed. a tiny orange cat came out from the bushes and meowed at the blonde affectionaly as if he hadn't seen her in days. Gabrielle leaned down and stroked the cat over his back and in return he purred loudly and leaned against her legs. 'Hello Horace' Gabrielle attempted to smile but it was not a warm smile. She could hear the thunder above her and raindrops began to fall. She stood there under the trees, with Horace the orange cat, consumed in the shadows, and her golden hair getting soaked by the rain. She looked down towards the house, and through the window she could see her father blowing out the little candle light they had. Everything went dark, and she could no longer see her father.

'Meow?' the cat looked up at the blonde bard but she didn't acknowledge him. She was already deep in thoughts. Was that how it was going to be? One second he's there and the next his gone? No, she wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to sit around waiting for her father to be killed by Callisto's men. She had to do something, and she knew exactly what to do. it was dangerous. a risky idea and probably a very stupid one, but she didn't care. She had to do this. Not only for her father, but for herself. She had to prove herself and this was the only way.

She begged the ancient gods for forgiveness for what she was about to do and begged for their protection upon herself and her family. She stroaked Horace one last time over his slightly wet head and headed back down towards the house. The cat meowed and followed her but halfway down he saw something, possibly a tiny mouse, shuffling in the grass and went to play with it instead.

Gabrielle silently sneaked back into the house, trying carefully not to wake her family. She went to the room she shared with her sister, found two pieces of parchment and quickly scribbled down a short message telling them what she was about to do and that they would forgive her. When she finished writing the same message on both pieces of parchment she rolled them both up and placed one of them on the empty pillow next to Lila. She watched her sister sleep for a short while before giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

Next she went into her father bedchamper and replaced the scroll on his nightstand with her own. Lightning struck and for a split second she could see his sleeping form clearly. He did not sleep soundly or peacefully. It was as if he was having nightmares and desperately wanted to wake up, but couldn't. Gabrielle felt bad for him. She hadn't always been close to her father. They had their ups and downs and their differences, but she loved him and she cared for him. She placed a kiss on his forehead as well before she turned away. Lila would take care of him, she knew that, she had no doubt about it.

The lightning struck again and she saw a wooden chest in the corner of the room. She silently walked over to it, careful not to wake her father and want down on her knees before she carefully opened it. inside laid her father's sword and armor neatly. She took up the old sword and studied it. It was pretty heavy, but she guessed she would get used to it just fine.

outside it was pouring down, but she didn't care. Her body was numb and she didn't feel cold anymore, let alone the raindrops that were falling on her soft skin. Horace was meowing in the distance, happily playing with a rodent. She fell down to her knees with her father's sword in her hand, still safely in it's scabbard. She held it tighly, her knuckles growing white.

She was shivering, but she didn't feel cold, not anymore at least. She grabbed the hilt of the word and withdrew it. The sound of the sword being freed from the scabbard combined with the thunder was like nothing she had ever heard. In a way it was be freeing. In a way it gave her courage but in the same way it made her even more nervous. How was that possible? She watched her own reflection in the sword for what felt like ages before she hesitantly moved the sword towards her long golden hair, closed her eyes and then cut it. The hair fell to the ground, now only being leftovers of what she used to be. She cut again, and more of her golden locks fell to the cold and muddy ground. She cut it all until the only thing that was left was a head with short spiky hair, bangs that carely went down to her eyes, hair that barely covered her ears, hair so short that it left her neck partly visible. She sat there on the ground, her eyes set on her old hair.

There was no way back now. This was the point of no return. Without any more second thoughts she put the sword back in its sheat and returned to the house.

The blonde took up her father's armor and proceeded with putting it on.

The rain was falling down hard and fast as she ran towards the stable. She opened the massive doors to the stable and a black stallion stood ready to attack the intruder. Gabrielle ran towards him and tried to calm her horse down. 'whoa!' She took a hold of its face and whispered soothing words in his ear.

'Easy now, Jared. It's only me.' Jared immediately calmed down once he realized who the person was. Gabrielle smiled at him while she stroked his nose before she proceeded with putting on the halter and the saddle and making sure it was all on securely before climbing on top and taking a hold of the reins. 'Alright Jared. Let's go before somebody wakes up. You with me?' Jared nodded his head and she smiled, satisfied by his answer. She rode out of the village and before it was completely out of sight, she looked back towards her home. The only place she knew, the only place she had ever been safe. There was no turning back now, she had to do this. 'May the gods protect me.'

And then they rode off into the distance.

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_Was it ok? suuuuure it was! no? I'm just gonna pretend it is and go to bed XP _

_The cat is actually based on my own cat, Timon^^ (the most awesome cat in the world IMO). Named him Horace, since I was considering bringing in the real Horace but changed my mind in the last second.._

_Next chapter will be up tomorrow (I hope) where Gabrielle's "sidekick" through the story will be introduced! three guesses who it's gonna be!_


	6. A Message for Caesar

_SOOOOOOO SORRY! Honestly the internet broke down and it was really suckish anyways... BUT I am home now so hopefully I'll be able to update more!_

_This will be a double update as a way for me to say sorry again XP and because I really wanna get past this chapter which is like NOT important at all XP seriously, I hate this chapter, just filler XP  
_

_oh and thanks again for the reviews ^^ Silvermoonlight GJ, thank you for your words, your opinion meant a lot to me and Powerpuffkari, thank you for just being an insanely awesome and supportive bestie! _

_**Sadly I own nothing! not Mulan or Xena (Though I wish they were XP)**_

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_lick lick_

_Why is my face all wet_ Lila was trying to turn to her side but whatever was on top of her wouldn't let her. 'mmm..' _What IS that? _

She peeked through an eye and groaned. 'meow?' the orange cat looked at her quizzingly but then purred when he realized he had finally got her attention. 'Horaaaaace! get off me!' She pushed Horace off her. The cat just continued to purr as he walked out of the room. The darkheaded girl just watched the cat leave with lazy eyes. 'Gabby, you really need to do something with your cat.. I can not have keep wake me up every damn night!_' _She rubbed her eyes for a while when she noticed everything was quiet.

'Gabby?' Lila turned to her left and was faced with an empty bed._ Where was she?_ 'Gabby?' she asked again, a little louder in case she had gone right outside. No answer. It was then she noticed the scroll. She carefully opened it and immediately recognized the neat handwriting as Gabrielle's_. _her eyes went back and forth as she read the content and already halfway through her eyes went wide.

'By the gods… FATHER!' Lila almost fell flat on her face as she tried to get out of the bed. 'Father!' she called again as she ran into his bedchamber and found him sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He seemed only half awake. 'Gabrielle is gone!' her voice was filled with panic. Herodotus looked up in disbelief and got out of bed in a hurry, completely forgetting his cane. He found his armor and sword gone and that's when realisation hit him. 'By the gods no... She couldn't have'

'Father?' Lila asked, panic still clear in her voice. Herodotus pushed past her and walked as fast as his weakened leg could carry him. Lila followed him out into the storming weather and tried to call for him to come back inside. 'Father you can't go out there! You'll get ill!' He ignored her as he tried to walk even faster. 'Gabrielle!' he called, as if she could still hear him. The old man didn't get far before his leg finally gave in and he slipped in the muddy water. Lila came up behind him and tried to help him on his feet. He didn't protest. he was too weak to protest. 'Father, We have to do something! She could get killed out there!' Her father sighed as he gazed towards the road. 'If I reveal her… she will be.'

/&/&"/%¤#/&%/¤%/¤%/#&%/"%¤#/"¤%¤/%#%¤"/ (this will separate the scenes LOL)

Callisto listened to the silent wind as it tickled her in the face. She smiled maliciously. A hawk shrieked as it flew over her head. She didn't flinch. An army of hundred or maybe thousands of men were standing behind her, all waiting for her orders. a rustling sound came from the bushes in front of her and a few of the men in the front watched it carefully while slowly raising their weapons. Callisto didn't take her eyes of the bushes but held up a hand signalizing that her men could lower their weapons. Everyone did as they were told. no one dared to question Callisto, she didn't do anything unless for a reason, and questioning her judgment would earn them a one-way ticket to Tartarus.

Callisto just stood there in the silence. Her smile grew wider as someone where thrown out of the bushes. Two young men, warriors, fell to the dirty ground. and a big man with dark curly hair came up behind them. He wore the same malicious grin as two young warriors looked up at terrified. They must've been fresh out of camp by the looks of it. Callisto smirked. 'Imperial scouts' the big man said and kicked on of them behind his head. Callisto walked towards the two young scouts and kneeled in front of them. With every step she took the two young men became more and more petriefied and tried to crawl backwards but were only met by sharp blades from warriors behind them.

'Callisto…' one of the young men whispered. The blonde warrior turned to the man and smiled. it was not a warm smile and he knew it. She turned to the other scout and softly traced the structure of his chin with her fingers. 'Well aren't you the handsome one... a bit scrawny though.' Some of her men snickered in the back. Callisto ignored them and turned to the man who had found his courage to speak. 'and smart..' she continued. 'You even found my army!' she waved her arm towards her army and smiled again as she looked back at the two scouts. 'Good work'

She continued to let her fingers go over the man's face and he found some courage he thought was forever gone and spoke up.'Caesar will stop you!' Callisto spoke in a mocking voice. 'Stop me?' She leaned closer to the scout that had spoken and her nose was almost touching his as she spoke again, this time not in a mocking voice.'Caesar doesn't know what he's doing.. his power is what brought me here, he doesn't deserve it and therefore I will take it from him' She tilted her head to the side for a second before she suddenly grabbed the scout by his throat. She drew a knife from her belt and then started tracing chin and cheek like she did earlier. 'Now go…' she threw him hard on the ground and the scouts desperately tried to get up on their feet. 'Tell Caesar I am ready for him! Let him send his strongest armies! They will die in vain!' the scouts got to their feet and ran for dear life.

Callisto watched them run with a smile on her face. She drew a hand through her blonde messy hair as she turned to the big man. 'Theodorus! How many men does it take to deliver a message?' the big man called Theodorus grinned as he answered his leader. 'One.'

Callisto grinned maliciously, satisfied with his answer and then swiftly turned around towards the running scouts and threw her knife.

* * *

_AAAAAAALLRIGHTY THEN! Changed this chapter a lot actually, added a few things and took away some unimportant..stuff XP ADDED HORACE! had to do it, my cat does that ALL the time!_

Next chapter will be up when I've gotten to go through it... which will be between now and in the morning (I promise)


	7. Goddess of Love to the Rescue

_Just wanna say I love this chapter! U know why? because I finally got to add some humor in it! I mean better humor LOL_

_enjoy! (sorry if there's any typos or you know grammar mistakes... my english isn't perfect hehe)  
_

**_Disclaimer: NOOO I don't own Mulan or Xena... unfortunately (Though I wish Gabrielle's scowl was mine XP)_**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

'Ok how about this?' Gabrielle awkwardly drew her sword as she tried to talk in the best manly voice she could manage.

'I see you have a sword? You think you're man enough to fight me? Do you? You're nothing but a coward! I've met and defeated hundreds of your type! So come on and make your move!' She was facing Jared whom just gave her a bored look. Gabrielle tried to ignore it as she struggled with finding more things to say.

'…or are you waiting for me to make a move? HA! That's a mistake! Waiting for me to do a mistake, but guess what! I don't do mistakes!' She tried to race the sword above her head but was taken aback by the sudden weight and fell backwards, landing on her behind. She howled in pain. _Impressive Gabby... Very impressive..._

Jared just blinked at her and proceeded eating. 'Oh you just wait, Jared' she grumbled as she got back up on her feet. 'I'll show you I can fight.' She rubbed her sore rear as she picked up the sword. 'Why are these things so damn heavy anyways?' she put the sword back into its sheat and got ready to try again.

'Ok maybe that wasn't the best approach... Maybe we should try something else?' Jared just turned his back on her.

'Hey, don't you turn your back on me! I'm not done yet!' The horse ignored her as it continued eating and Gabrielle sighed as sat down on a nearby rock.

'How am I going to fool everyone at camp when I can't even fool my own horse?' she asked herself. This was turning into a bad idea after all... Maybe she should just go home? tell her father it was a joke or something? yes a joke, she could say she was developing this idea where people would fool each other once a year! She'd call it April Fools! _... ok that's a stupid idea... I mean who would be dumb enough to come up with something like April Fools? _No, Gabrielle needed to find another idea... what was she going to do?_  
_

'Well, first of all you really need to do something with your "man-voice"' Gabrielle screamed awkwardly and quickly rose from her seat. She turned around while drawing her sword, which of course fell to the ground with a _clang_. Aphrodite herself was standing before her, in all pink, with one hand on her hip and a warm smile across her face.

'And you should also work on drawing that sword of yours. I mean even I can do better than that, girl! and I don't even believe in war! ya know, make love not war?' She brushed away a few curls from her eyes as she picked up Gabrielle's sword and handed it to her.

Gabrielle just stood there wide-eyed and in shock, but took the sword anyways. 'What's the matter? You've never seen a god before?' Gabrielle just shook her head while staring at the pink goddess. 'Uhm, wh... what are you doing here?' Gabrielle squeaked Aphrodite looked at her as if she was joking. 'Why am I here? To help you, silly! You don't think I've been watching you after you ran away from Potidaea?' She looked Gabrielle up and down. 'Yeah you need my help, Blondie. If you ever want to get into that camp and fool those guys, you're going to need an expert on the inside.'

It was Gabrielle's turn to now look confused. 'But how are you going to do that? Wouldn't the men there fly all over you the second they see you?'

Aphrodite only laughed. 'Oh Silly, of course they would! But they're not going to see me, only you will.' She winked at the young girl. 'With my help you're going to be a legend!'

A legend? ha! that was funny...

'Oh and by the way, did you cut your hair yourself?' Gabrielle nodded.

'Figures…' The goddess said dryly. Gabrielle gave her an annoyed look, which she completely ignored. 'Fine then, if you can help me into the camp then do it.'

Aphrodite squealed and gave Gabrielle a tight hug, which was awkwardly returned. 'This is going to be totally awesome! We're going to be like best friends!' she let go of Gabrielle and started walking. 'Now get your horse and let's get going! We don't have all day,'

Gabrielle sighed and walked towards Jared. 'This wasn't such a good idea was it,' Jared shook his head. 'Glad you agree.' She led Jared towards the path through the forest and followed Aphrodite who was already a distant away calling for them to hurry up. 'Really not a good idea…'

%/%&(/#¤/(&/&#&¤/(/#&%(/#/&"%¤/#(#&%&"%¤/&#(¤%"/&(

Gabrielle was standing by the entrance of the camp, really not sure of what to do.

Aphrodite walked up behind her with a huge grin as she clapped her on the shoulder.

'This is it, girl! Time to show them your "man-walk"' Gabrielle felt really awkward as Aphrodite listed all the things she needed to do a convincing man-walk.

'Shoulders back, chest high, feet apart, head up aaand let's go!' Gabrielle started walking awkwardly into the camp and all eyes were on her as she walked ridiculously. Aphrodite could barely hold back her laughter and Gabrielle had her suspicion that she did that on purpose. 'Work it, Blondie! You're doing great!' Gabrielle mentally hit herself in the head._ Yeah, juuust great._

She would come across middle-aged men picking their noses and smelling their feet and she couldn't help but gag at the thought of how disgusting some men could really be. 'Beautiful isn't it?' Aphrodite said and Gabrielle was really hoping that was another joke. 'They're disgusting!' she whispered. Aphrodite sighed. 'Yeah you're right. But hey what can we do? Can't live with them and can't live without them…' Gabrielle suddenly turned to Aphrodite. 'Do I really have to act like that?'

'If you want them to believe you're a brave, women-loving fighter, then yes.' The goddess patted the blonde girl on the back as they continued walking. 'Now pay attention to this.' She pointed at a scruffy man with an open shirt, revealing his big belly and dragon tattoo. _Who would have a giantic dragon printed on their body?_

'Look! This dragon will protect me from harm!' _...a dragon tattoo? really?...Incredible... _ the scruffy man seemed incredibly proud over the tattoo as two men, twins actually, inspected his tattoo. Of course he was oblivious of the smirk they shared before one of the twins hit him so hard in the stomach he fell backwards into a pool of mud. The other twin started laughing and patted his brother on the shoulder. 'Seems like it's broken! Hope you get your dinars back!' he yelled at the scruffy man who was now lying flat on the ground, counting stars.

Gabrielle looked at them with a mix of shock and disgust. Sure Gabrielle doubted that dragon would actually protect him, but it really wasn't nice of those twins to do that.. 'I don't think I can do this…' Aphrodite just laughed. 'It's all about attitude, girl! Be tough like that guy there!' she said while pointing at the twin who was now kissing his soar knuckles and then proceeded to spit on the ground. He gazed at Gabrielle who was looking at him as if he was crazy.

'What are you looking' at?' Gabrielle suddenly started to panic. This guy looked as if he was about to hit her if she even thought the wrong things.

'Punch him' Aphrodite whispered in Gabrielle's ear. 'It's how men say hello,' Gabrielle looked down at her fist and begged to the other gods that Aphrodite wasn't joking about this too.

She hit the twin hard, too hard it seemed since he flew into another guy… (where did she get that kind of strength?) a guy who looked just like him. Guess it was the other twin…. Wait… wasn't the twin behind her just now? A third one? Triplets? 'Oh Jet, you made a friend!' Aphrodite snickered and whispered in her ear again. 'Good job, Gabby! Now you've made a friend. So to seal the deal you slap him on the behind! It's a guy thing' she winked and Gabrielle did as she said.

'WOW!' Jet exclaimed and turned to Gabrielle. 'oooohoho you did not just do that, kid! I am going to hit you so hard you'll even see Olympus on your way up!' he was about to hit her from underneath but then the third brother came up and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Now now, Jet. Relax and sing with me,' he said softly and started singing. 'Relax, don't do it... Relax, don't do it' Jet tried to control his anger and sang with his brother. _What kind of song is that?_ Seconds later he was calm again. _Wow, that actually worked..._ 'Feel better now?'

'Yeah…' Jet answered under his breath. 'Meh, you're a waste of my time anyways… chicken boy,' Jet turned to his brother and snickered. Aphrodite then snipped her fingers so that only Jet could her voice. 'Chicken boy? Say that to my face, you buttface!' She yelled in Gabrielle's man-voice.

Gabrielle's eyes went wide as she heard her own voice say those words. _Oh by the gods, I'm dead now!_

She turned around ready to face the angry twin but instead she was almost met with his fist. She ducked just in time and the fist connected with the first brother who was standing behind Gabrielle smirking. 'Ups... sorry, Joxer!' Jet said but didn't bother helping him up on his feet. Instead he tried to grab Gabrielle from running away, but as he ducked down to grab her, the first brother named Joxer kicked him hard in his behind which sent him flying into the third brother (Getting confused here?).

In the end everything ended up in a massive fight with food being wasted, chairs being destroyed and clothes being ripped to pieces. As this happened Gabrielle desperately tried to sneak away.

But the people inside the main tent were of course completely oblivious to this matter as they were planning battle strategies. Among them was the emperor's advisor Brutus, the old general and a dark haired woman. 'Callisto's army has struck here, here and here.' The old general explained as he pointed on a map.

'One of my scouts just came back and informed of their meet in with Callisto...' The general sighed and continued. 'We need to act fast!' The woman followed his movements intensely as she listened to the plan. 'I will take my troops up to the pass here.' He pointed towards a hill on the map. 'And here we will stop Callisto before she can destroy the next village on her rampage.' The general stood up and walked around the tent.

'Excellent strategy, sir!' Brutus suddenly said, kissing up to the general. 'I do love surprises.' Brutus laughed over his lame attempt on a joke, which then turned into a very awkward silence. Both the general and the woman looked at him for a while before the general continued with the plan. 'Right... You will stay here and train the recruits.' By the look on the woman's face she didn't seem to like this part of the plan too much.

'Remember, while I am away, you have full command, Xena.' The woman named Xena nodded. 'But if anything were to happen to me, if I were to die in battle..-' Xena interrupted. 'That will not happen, they won't be able t..-'

'IF I were to die in battle, Brutus here will be given full command as he answers directly to Caesar. Is that clear?.' Xena rose to her feet. 'What?' She yelled. She was about to say something more but the look the general gave her made her change her mind. 'Is that clear?' He asked Xena again. She just scowled at the old man. 'Yes, sir' Brutus smirked, pleased with where this was going.

'Good. You will follow his orders as if they were my own, and also when Brutus thinks the recruits are ready…' the general continued. 'You will join us, Captain.' He took up a sword and gave it to the young woman opposite him. 'Captain?' she asked astounded as she took the sword. Brutus gasped at these news. His buble of pride bursting before his eyes.

'Oh but this is an enormous responsibility, general! Perhaps a warrior with more experience would do better? Maybe a male warrior would be a more preferable choice?' The general simply smiled proudly. 'Number one in her class, Brutus. She has extensive knowledge of training techniques, and even the strenght of several men combined. I believe Xena will do an excellent job.'

Xena's eyes lit up at this and she couldn't help but smile over the honor, but she controlled herself as she spoke (though she did look at Brutus for a short second and inwardly snickered over his pathetic scowl). 'Yes sir, I won't let you down!' She bowed and the general then rose to his feet. 'Very good then,' he turned to Brutus. 'I expect a full report in three weeks.' Brutus nodded and moved out of the general's way. 'Now let's go see what those recruits have tangled themselves into.' Yes, the recruits had been kind of loud the entire time, but Xena and the general were used to fights stirring up now and then.

The general walked out and before Brutus could follow he turned to Xena with a smirk and answered. 'And trust me, Xena, I won't leave anything out of that report.' He poked her with his feather pen. 'Not-a-thing!' he whispered as he poked her between each word. Xena just scoffed and pushed past him. Though she couldn't stop thinking of what kind of honor this was. Captain Xena, Leader of Greece's greatest troops! Yeah that had a nice ring to it.

Once they were outside of the tent, all three of them looked absolutely shocked over the sight before them. or maybe it was just her and Brutus, but shocked nonetheless!

* * *

_And there! the fun begins lol_

_so I switched Mushu out with Aphrodite yeh XP it just screamed to me "PERFECT FIT!" and she doesn't even have to hide behind Gabrielle's shoulders! ok I'm going to shut up now.._

_I didn't change a lot of what happened inside the camp though... buuuuuuuut I changed some, also made Brutus seem more obnoxious (which sooo doesn't fit his character on Xena lol) ok ok now I'm gonna shut up... dunno when next update will be but hey, u got two chapters to have fun with so ... TTFN!_


	8. Nice First Impression

_I have no words for how sorry I am.. and honestly I have no good excuse either. the truth is I just haven't felt like updating and I know it's not a good enough excuse.. I lost inspiration (even if the story is more or less done) and I've been going through a lot of stuff over the summer : / BUT! I am going to try and make up for it by writing again, hopefully my readers haven't given up on this little fanfic just yet^^ I am also thinking about writing a few Legend of the Seeker fics and maybe something for South of Nowhere? what do you think? yeh? ok ok on with the story_

_I remember someone asked me how I was going to solve the whole "Xena not knowing Gabrielle is a woman thing".. yeh it's kinda lame having Xena not seeing past Gabrielle's bad attempt on a disguise but don't worry, I had that part planned out since before I started writing the first chapter xP just stick to it^^_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing... sadly enough... except for my cat^^ he's very fluffy! (I wish Gabrielle's cuteness was mine tho!)**

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**Chapter 8**

Or well Xena was the only really shocked.

The old general watched the scene in front of him as if it happened every single day and Brutus simply smirked as he took notes over everything.

All the warriors were involved in a massive fight. Glass was shattered over people's heads. Food were being thrown in a couple of faces and one man looked as if he was drunk with the way he walked towards them, saluted them and then pasted out by Xena's feet. Xena looked down at him with confusion and a tiny bit of disappointment. _This was going to be fun..._

Brutus followed Xena's gaze to the poor man lying on the ground. 'Most impressive…' he said sarcastically. Xena gave him a scowl and walked over to the general who just gave her a knowing look. 'Show us what you can, captain,' he said with amusement in his voice. Her gaze went from the general, to the fight in front of them and even at Brutus before she turned back to the general. She swallowed and then started walking towards the men she was supposed to turn into warriors.

Brutus came up from behind the general and leaned closer to his ear. 'One dinar she's going to fail,' he whispered with a smirk. The general smiled and turned to Xena again. 'You're on, Brutus,' Brutus started scribbling down some notes before he yelled 'Daaaaaay 1,' something that made the tall warrior groan and roll her eyes in annoyance. _Very fun..._

'Warriors!' She yelled to get their attention. She gave them an ice cold look which made everyone stop still and hold their breath. They knew better than to mess with the great Xena.

'Who started this?' She yelled and the men in the front all turned aside to reveal the body of a young boy(?), his hands covering his head from further harm. Xena looked at the young boy strangely. This person started a fight like this? Hardly. From what Xena could see, the person seemed rather small, couldn't be older than maybe 17 or 18 years at most. Most boys would've grown to be rather big and masculine by that age, especially if they were working on farms, but not this one... Xena had a feeling this one was going to mean trouble, most likely going to slow down the training.

Gabrielle peeked through her fingers as Xena hovered over her and couldn't help but gasp. Never in her life had she seen a woman so beautiful. Her dark, long hair dancing in the gentle breeze. Her piercing blue eyes connecting with the blonde's emerald green. She was wearing dark brown leather, fitting all her curves perfectly. _What was that? drool? Get it together! She is your superior! _

_Not to mention waaaaay out of your league... Wait! was that her? or.. maybe it was Aphrodite... _

Her face was beautiful and Gabrielle could've easily mistaken her for a goddess. She clumsily got to her feet and now stood face to face with the six feet tall woman. Xena raised an eyebrow at the young blonde. 'If you haven't noticed, _boy_, I need warriors! not troublemakers! I will not tolerate any stuns like these!' Gabrielle backed up a little bit. 'Sorry' she answered almost in a whisper, completely forgetting her "man voice" in the process. 'Uh I mean… sorry you had to see that ehe….' She softly hit the taller woman on the shoulder, and Xena raised her eyebrow again.

Aphrodite couldn't help but feel ashamed and the palm of her hand connected with her forehead as she shook her head. 'We're in trouble…' she mumbled to herself. Gabrielle continued her nervous rambling and started talking about manly urges and such. Xena interrupted her by taking the blonde by her collar swiftly, surprising her in the process. 'What's your name?' she asked sternly. Gabrielle suddenly felt she had stumbled upon another hole in her not so perfect plan. She didn't have a name! _Oh by the Gods, I'm in trouble..._

'I ehm... I uh.. well, here's the thing..?' Brutus marched up between them before Gabrielle could continue with her nervous rambling. Gabrielle felt like she could almost kissed the man! if it hadn't been for the fact that he was completely unattractive and it would without a doubt ruin her among several other reasons.. She'd have Aphrodite write a list later...

'Your commanding officer just asked you a question!' okay, Gabrielle took it back.. this man should burn in Tartarus. for a split second she caught Xena rolling her eyes and Gabrielle couldn't help to smile a little. The taller woman pushed past the stick-man and moved closer to Gabrielle who looked around awkwardly before letting her eyes connect once again with the piercing blue. Once they connected, her heart skipped a beat.

Xena watched the blonde, waiting for an answer. 'Well?' she finally said. Gabrielle had probably been staring into her eyes for ages, but once she heard the taller woman's voice again she was taken aback. it was so soft. The way Xena was looking at her.. it wasn't like she was looking right through her but rather right into her.. into her soul.

Xena seemed to have noticed the awkward changes and spoke again. this time with a cold gaze and a deep voice filled with authority. 'Well, answer me, kid!' She was practically barking out the words.

Gabrielle took a step back. 'Uhm I have a name.. of course I have a name! I mean, eh, who doesn't? right? uhm my name... right..' Xena raised an eyebrow. 'It's a boy's name, just so you know!' Aphrodite facepalmed and Gabrielle felt like doing the same thing. The Goddess was just about to get ready to help the young blonde before someone spoke up, catching everyone's attention in the process. 'This is Gabriel, he's from my hometown, Potidaea. A dear friend of mine. I am sorry, he had a hard time getting to camp and stumbled upon a few.. problems.'

Gabrielle turned to face the familiar voice and couldn't help but smile. 'Perdicus!' he gave her a nod and a smile before he turned back to commanding officer. Xena started at him for a while before she turned to Gabrielle. 'Well then, now that I have your name.. _Gabriel, _we can settle this the right way.' Gabrielle tilted her a head a little. What was with the name she said her name? she shrugged it off.

'Your scroll,' Xena said as she reached out her hand. Gabrielle blinked for a few seconds, not understanding what she was talking about. 'oh, yes, my scroll! right..' The young blonde, found her father's constriction notice and handed it to Xena, her fingers accidentally brushing against the taller woman's hand. Xena opened the scroll and read it. 'Herodotus of Potidaea?' her eyes went wide.

'_The _Herodotus?' Brutus came up behind Xena and peeked over her shoulder to read the scroll. 'I didn't know Herodotus had a son, I only knew he had two daughters.. Lila and _Gabrielle.'_ He said, eying Gabrielle. And so did Xena, her eyes completely focused on the blonde. and that strange feeling came back.. as if she was looking right into her soul again.

The young blonde reluctantly tried to avoid eye contact as she struggled to find a good cover story. 'Uh my father doesn't talk much about me.' She said at last and shrugged. 'Way to go genius.' Aphrodite muttered in the background while tracing the facial structure of a man who was completely oblivious to her presence.

Perdicus came up to stand next to Gabrielle. 'Gabriel has been traveling. He just recently came back from his travels to take his father's place in the army.' Gabrielle watched her childhood friend with wide eyes. Perdicus knew how to come up with good cover stories.

Xena seemed to accept this and turned to the nervous blonde. 'Well then, thanks to your new pals, _Gabriel _and Perdicus_, _you are spending the rest of the day cleaning up all of this mess! You will also have to live without dinner tonight!' Xena yelled with a slight smile and turned her back to the recruits. Everyone groaned and looked at the two young teens from Potidaea.

Gabrielle gulped. _This wasn't good... _

'Nice first impression, Blondie' Aphrodite said as she leaned on Perdicus' shoulder. 'For once, will you just learn to shut up?' Gabrielle half yelled. Perdicus met her eyes, slightly hurt. 'Sorry, I just thought you needed some help out there...' Gabrielle eyes widened. 'Oh no, Perdicus, I didn't mean you! I just.. argh, never mind.. I.. I wasn't talking to you.. I was talking about myself.. Thank you,'

Perdicus smiled down at her. 'No problem, Gab,' Gabrielle smiled back. 'So when did you realize it was me?' she asked as she bent down to clean up some of the mess on the ground. Perdicus laughed as he bent down to help her. 'Are you joking? I knew it was you from the moment you set foot in this camp! You should be happy most of the men here only have half a brain!' Gabrielle sighed.

'Well I didn't really think too much ahead when I left..' Perdicus nodded and continued to clean up the mess. He wanted to ask her why she had left, knowing fully well that there was more to it than helping her own father. But he also knew Gabrielle had had enough for one day. He would ask her some other time instead.

'It's good to have you here, Perdicus,' she said and he smiled.

Xena walked up to the general who was wearing a rather amused smile. 'Good job, _captain_. You handled that fairly well. Not the way I would've done it, but still good,' he smiled proudly and Xena bowed down. 'Thank you, general,' The old general mounted his white horse and turned back to Xena. 'You will do fine, Xena. Good luck!' and with that he was gone, along with hundreds of well trained warriors ready to face Callisto and her army. Xena stood there watching them ride off into the distance. 'Good luck… Father,' the last word wasn't more than a mere whisper.

She was just about to go into her tent before but turned away in the last second. instead she walked over to the recruits who were all now busy with cleaning up their mess. She looked over at the blonde kid and her friend for a second and smiled. 'One more thing, men!' She yelled to get their attention. 'Once you're done cleaning this up, and I expect everything to be spotless, you better get some sleep, because tomorrow... the _real _training begins! and mark my words men, I will not go easy on you.' she looked at Gabrielle for a slight second before she turned to her tent again.

Gabrielle and Perdicus looked around and was met with hundreds of of angry looks directed at them. 'You know… we should probably work on your people skills as well, Blondie,' Gabrielle only scowled at the other blonde and groaned in frustration.

* * *

_There... changed the chapter almost completely! hope it was good enough^^ _

_now I dunno when the next chapter will be up, I'm gonna have to change a lot of it because I read through my story a few times and I'm gonna have to take my time and change it a bit. for now I hope this is good enough ^^ _

_for those who liked Horace the cat, I might have him visit the fic once in a while just for the fun of it but for now ttfn!_


	9. Let's Get Down to Business

_Forgot to thank those who were sweet enough to add my story to alert! it made me finally go and do some writing hehe_

_I am glad people like my story so far, and that it's growing out of the Mulan story and into something of its own^^ _

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.. neither Xena or Mulan.. sadly enough... but I do own my cat^^ he's very fluffy ^^**

* * *

Chapter 9

The sun was shining and birds were singing happily. Men were sleeping (very) soundly and peacefully in their medium sized, perfectly built tents and just on the outside of the camp was a small tent, looking as if it was going to fall apart any second.

Inside the tent our blonde hero was (finally) sleeping peacefully, until a certain goddess came magically popping into the tent.

'Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! Rise and shine!' Gabrielle growled sleepily and tried to drag her sleeping rags above her head. Aphrodite's smile faded and the goddess bent down and swiftly dragged the rags off the blonde. Gabrielle suddenly felt the cold morning wind hitting her hard and goosebumps started appearing on her small body. She whined and sat up while rubbing the sleep off her eyes. 'I'll rise, but I refuse to shine,'

'Oh stop sulking, it doesn't suit your pretty face.' Aphrodite handed Gabrielle some nutbread and water and Gabrielle happily accepted the offerings.

'And besides I doubt tall, dark and sexy will find that a very attractive,' no less than a second later Aphrodite was drenched in a mix between water and spit, and Gabrielle sat there completely wide eyed. Her cheeks were completely red. 'What? Why…huh? Why would Xen …I mean why would the captain find me attractive? I'm not fond of her in that way, if that's what you think! Ok so she's quite beautiful for a bloodthirsty warrior with a temper but that's it!' Gabrielle continued to ramble on and the goddess found this all quite amusing to watch.

'Hold on Blondie! First of all, take a chill pill… second of all, I only meant that it would be nice if _Gabriel_ got on Xena's nice side, and by sulking and whining you wouldn't really make a good impression as a guy…comprende?' Gabrielle only looked confused and slightly embarrassed over her little outburst. 'I'll take that as a yes.' The goddess snapped her fingers and a small mirror appeared in your hand. She held it up to check her appearance and this time it was her turn to whine. 'Aww now look at my hair! It's completely ruined!' Gabrielle just ignored the goddess as she rose to her feet and walked out of her tent.

She took a deep breath and felt the cold morning air go all the way through her lungs. Suddenly Aphrodite popped up next to her and scared her half to death. The goddess ignored the not so very manly outburst she just witnessed. 'You know, I still don't get why you didn't accept Perdicus' offer about sharing tents the first night..' Gabrielle gave the goddess a look as if the answer was obvious.

'Oh yes, sharing a tent with the man I was close to being engaged with.. great idea..' the blonde muttered dryly. 'I'm just saying, it would've saved you hours from setting up the tent last night,'

'You've helped me though. A snap with your fingers and I would've actually gotten some sleep..' she rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep away. 'Where's the fun in that? I enjoyed watching you putting up the tent last night! ...and failing in the process,' Gabrielle shot the goddess daggers but then sighed and looked down at her boots. 'I shouldn't have come here... this is not me... I'm no warrior!' she kicked the dirt and Aphrodite went to put a hand on the young girl's shoulder.

'Don't say that, Gabby. You can do whatever you want, as long as you put your mind into it. But if you start doubting yourself... you'll get nowhere..' she lifted Gabrielle's chin and flashed her a smile worthy of a goddess. Gabrielle couldn't help but smile back. 'Thanks, Aphrodite. I guess you do come in handy at times after all,'

'Oh you know me, babe. I have my moments,' the goddess said with a wink as she checked her hair in mirror.

Gabrielle turned her back and mumbled. 'Though very few of them,' she smiled when Aphrodite smacked her arm. 'hey I heard that! Anyways..' she pointed towards the camp.

'You should probably get your butt moving, our future heroes are already getting ready to face Miss Broody and Mr. Ass-kisser for their first training.'

Gabrielle turned towards the goddess. 'Are you saying I'm late? Aphrodite why didn't you tell me?' the goddess looked at her confused.

'Why did u think I woke you up? Just for kicks?'

Gabrielle growled angrily as she went to retrieve her boots and the staff he had been given earlier, and of course her luck was against her as the tent collapsed around her. Jared, the horse just blinked from where he stood and continued eating whatever he could find.

Gabrielle freed herself from the tents grasp and ran as fast she could towards the other men. Of course she stumbled a few times on the way. The other recruits were fooling around, play fighting and making fun of Brutus and his voice. Of course the triplets were in charge of it all.

One of them, presumably Joxer tapped one of his brothers on the shoulder and the brother turned towards him.

It was Jet, it was easy to notice because of the black eye he had gotten the previous day.

Joxer pointed towards Gabrielle who had finally joined up with the rest of the group. 'Look who finally decided to join us guys!' He said and walked over to Gabrielle.

'Hey Gabriel, did you sleep well? Are you hungry?' he asked as he casually draped an arm over her shoulders. If sleeping well meant sleeping for 2-3 hours, then yes she slept very well and yes she was indeed hungry because she hadn't eaten since before she entered the camp, which was of course in a way her fault…

It was now Jet's turn to get her attention, but instead of putting his arm around her shoulder he grabbed her hard by the collar.

'I'm going to beat you to pulp for what you did last night! You should know that if I don't get my dinner, I get very _very _angry!' _Like now?_ Gabrielle wondered.

He lifted his fist and was about to hit her but was interrupted by someone grabbing him hard by his arm and pushed him back into the line of men. It was Xena.

She was standing there in front of the recruits, dressed in a red battle suit, not unlike her brown leather from the day before.

_She looked stunning, _Gabrielle thought. For that she mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking? She had never been like this before.

She took a second to look into the warriors blue eyes… and wait? Was that a wink? _Did she just wink at me? _Gabrielle thought. No way, it was probably some wishful thinking or something.

'Warriors! She called out the men to get their attention. 'You will assemble swiftly and silently every morning! Everyone who acts otherwise… will answer to me!' She walked past the men and Jet who was standing next to Gabrielle scoffed.

'Like I would be afraid of a girl.' Suddenly a whooshing sound could be heard and without really knowing, Gabrielle reacted quickly.

She swung her staff right in front of Jet's face and just as she did so, it was hit by an arrow, only a few inches from Jet. He looked absolutely terrified, Gabrielle looked shocked by what she had just done and Xena merely smirked.

'Well done _Gabriel_, you've got nice reflexes.' Gabrielle smiled and bowed as Xena came up to her and asked for her staff. She raised the staff above her head for everyone to see.

'This is how fast I want you all to be! You all noticed how fast Gabriel here caught the arrow. He acted on instinct! It's the most important weapon you have gentlemen! Your instinct! Your gut feeling! That little voice in the back of your head telling you when you should block or attack!' Xena threw the staff back towards Gabrielle, and the blonde clumsily grabbed it.

_Nice one Gabby… first make a good impression, then make a complete fool out of yourself._

'Now this is what I want you to do.. you are all to be divided into pairs! I don't care who you pair up with, as long as you have a partner!' She continued.

Everyone were quiet. 'What, are you guys deaf? Find a partner!'

Everyone started running around, trying to find someone to partner up with. Before Gabrielle could move out of harm's way, a hand was place don her shoulders. She turned around to face Perdicus.

'I think it's safer if we partner up, don't you?' Gabrielle smiled and nodded.

After everyone had gotten a partner Xena called for everyone's attention again.

'Right, now that you have all chosen a partner, I want you all to face him.' Everyone did as they were told and Gabrielle turned to face her childhood friend. 'Remember his face, remember everything. This man will be your partner the whole time you're here. Trust him with everything you've got!' Gabrielle smiled a bit. She did trust Perdicus. he had already helped her a lot after she came into camp.

'You are to share your meals with this man, share your stories, your experiences and also your tents. is that understood?' A few men nodded in agreement and some shouted and threw their fists into the air. Gabrielle on the other hand was still stuck on the "share your tents" part. That was going to be... fun? then again I guess it wouldn't be so bad, she trusted Perdicus, and right now, a place to sleep was fairly limited.

'Now that I've said that, let's get started.' The tall warrior goes down to her knees in front of a wooden chest that had been placed on the grassy ground earlier. She opened it and grabbed something before she turned to the men. In her hands she had a huge stack of arrows. but instead of arrowheads they had some kind of suction cups at the end. Gabrielle raised her eyebrow and the same did a few other men.

Xena noticed this and smiled. 'Now we wouldn't want any deaths on the first day, that wouldn't really look good on the report, now would it?' She turned to Brutus who was sitting in the distance, while writing on a fairly large scroll. He had a grin on the entire time. Xena just shook her head and turned back to the men.

'My job is to train you men into real warriors., but that does not mean we won't go easy on you in the beginning. Because right now, you men know nothing when it comes to fighting. I see you all have spirit, you all have determination, you all have integrity, you all wish to fight for you country! This makes me proud, but it will not save you if you get hit by an arrow during training. I need all of you in the battlefield!' Gabrielle could only stare in wonder. This woman, in front of her, she was amazing. The way she moved when she spoke with authority, the way her dark hair danced in the wind, her piercing blue eyes staring right into your very soul. She was dangerous, but flawless.

'Now, one from each group, come here and retrieve your bows and arrows.' Gabrielle and Perdicus looked at each other. 'Well, you were pretty good with handling that arrow earlier...' Gabrielle shook her head. 'That was just luck,'

'Yeh, but can you use a bow?' Gabrielle ducked her head. She had tried to go hunting once before... She had followed a rabbit but had no idea how to use the bow so she tried to sneak up on the rabbit instead... No one would believe her but that was NOT a normal rabbit! Perdicus knew about this, which is why he mentioned it. 'You know I can't...' Perdicus smiled. 'Then it's settled. I'll go get the bow,' just as he was about to go Xena called from the distance. 'Are you two done with the flirting over there?' Gabrielle froze. 'Because everyone else here are ready, unlike you two.. get moving!'

Xena turned to the rest of the men, but not before she caught a glance of the young blonde. 'Before you all start shooting at each other, remember to dip the arrows in paint,' everyone looked confused. 'the cups at the end of the arrows will not stick for long.. if you get hit by an arrow I want to know where you get hit so that we can determine how big the "injury" is,'

Perdicus came back with the arrows and a big smile on his face. 'You ready?' Gabrielle frowned. This didn't seem so bad, it's not like it would hurt. No, this seemed rather easy. She'd be fine. 'Yeh, let's get started,'

Xena watched the interact and nodded once she knew they were ready. 'Now let's get down to business!' The men stood straight, facing each other. 'Bows ready!' half of the men aimed, the other half stood ready with their staffs. Gabrielle swung her staff and stood ready. She smirked at Perdicus who aimed right at her.

_This was going to be some adventure,_ Gabrielle thought amusingly as she watched him and waited for Xena to give further orders. 'FIRE!'

* * *

_Sorry it was a bit late, I actually rewrote most of the chapter a week ago, but my computer crashed so I lost half of it and didn't feel like writing it again, until now._

_So here's the first training session. ^^ I used a few references from different Xena episodes as you may have noticed and I will continue to do that a couple of times xP Perdicus will be a major character in this story, but no worries, him and Gabby will be just friends ; ) _

_I'll try and get the next chapter up soon ;)_


	10. More and more training

_A new chapter! : D thank you to those who have reviewed and added this story to alert! it means a lot : )_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing... except for the cat : D he's fluffy and cute : D_**

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Slowly he moved towards it. One step at the time. He was determined not to make any noise. He knew that would only scare it away. The grass was soft because of the early rain. His eyes were set on his prey. one step closer. The prey turned towards him and he kept himself hidden in the grass. another step.

_Squash, squash, squash_

The grass was soft. another step.

_Squash, squash, squash_

his prey sniffed into the air. it knew.. it was being watched. The predator got ready to strike his prey. He waited until the prey turned it's head. His weapons of doom were out and ready to strike the animal down. The prey turned back to the bushes. The predator showed teeth and knew that now was his time to attack. He leaped from the high grass, straight towards the prey.

Everything went in slow motion. almost there! Just as he was about to send his weapons of doom deep into the flesh of his pray he was caught in midair.

'There you are!' _Meow?_

Horace watched his prey run away and retracted his claws. _Next time..._

The orange cat looked up at the person who had caught him. He had recognized the voice. He was met with Lila's face as she cuddled into him. He wasn't happy.

'I've been looking for you, kitty. Think you can get away huh?' Horace meowed in respond. He was sad. Why did she have to interrupt his highly important hunt?

Lila scratched him behind ear. He was happy again. _purr..._

'aww, do you miss Gabrielle? poor kitty.. I miss her too you know..' Lila sat down on the ground with Horace in her lap. _Gabrielle? That was my owner, right? the blonde one..._

He hadn't seen her in days... maybe he did miss her.. Lila wouldn't let him sleep in the bed like Gabrielle always would.. he missed her... when was she coming back? maybe she'd bring a mouse for him!

'But she'll be ok, little fellow.. you'll see! She'll come home and she'll be fine..' her voice cracked and Horace looked up. She had tears in her eyes. The cat stood up and rubbed his face into her and licked her cheek. He tried to comfort her. She seemed sad.

Lila smiled at him and scratched him on his side. 'I can see why Gabby likes you, you're a good kitty,' _Meow_

Her tears continued as she watched the sun go down in the horizon.

'Oh dear Gods... Please protect my sister from harm..' The cat purred in her lap and the young brunette couldn't hold back her tears.

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Some adventure indeed!

Yellow paint was dripping from her nose. Another arrow had hit her on the forehead. Perdicus stood there laughing. His hand was on his belly and he was shaking as he almost fell on the ground. It was the fifth day of training. None of the men had really managed to catch any arrows. A few had been caught here and there, but most of them were because of luck. some only dodged the arrows because they got scared in the last second. Gabrielle had managed to catch 2 arrows herself. She was extremely proud of that, and refused to think of the matter that she had caught them both by pure luck. Actually she only caught one by pure luck.. the other one only grazed the staff, but in Gabrielle's mind that was good enough.

The shooters had gotten better aim, especially Perdicus. Xena had told him she liked his improvement and that he was getting better than any of the other shooters. She especially liked it when an arrow had hit _Gabriel _in the crotch. (of course it took Gabrielle a few seconds to realize where she had been hit and when she finally realized, she fell to her knees and screamed in agony.)

Gabrielle grumbled at Perdicus laughing as she curled her fingers around the arrow and with a bit of force ripped it from her forehead. 'You're dead, _Gabriel_!' Xena shouted as if it wasn't obvious. Gabrielle just scowled and turned to Perdicus who had finally gotten to his feet.

'Again?' he asked. Gabrielle retrieved her staff from the ground and nodded. 'This time try and hold on to the staff, ok?' Perdicus chuckled. 'You be careful, Perdicus. I know where you sleep,' Gabrielle said in her male voice as she was mentally strangling him. 'And I am very scared,' he aimed the arrow and suddenly it seemed as if everything was in slow motion. Gabrielle watched as Perdicus got ready to let go of the arrow. She noticed so many details. Everything felt so strange, it was something she had never felt earlier... but she had. When she caught Xena's arrow. Everything felt the same way.. but she had heard it coming. Perdicus let go of the arrow. it was coming right at her. He had aimed for the chest. She listened as the arrow rode through the wind, cutting through it.

_Now!_ Gabrielle swung her staff in front of her face with one hand, switched it with the other and held it straight behind her. She looked at herself in surprise, then at Perdicus who was also surprised, then at Xena who had an eyebrow raised but a smile on her lips. She gazed down at where the arrow should have it her. it wasn't there. She looked up at Perdicus again who was staring at her staff. She followed his gaze and a smile was spread on her face. She did it!

Yellow paint was dripping running down the staff. An arrow was stuck to it. She caught it! it hadn't grazed the staff! she hadn't caught it accidentally while ducking and holding the staff above her head. 'Well done, _Gabriel_. That was even better than the first time,' Xena was standing behind her with a smile.

Gabrielle was taken above for a tiny second and swallowed. 'Uhm.. eh.. thank you! Xena.. it was nothing, really.. I just.. you know, saw it and.. uhm.. caught it!' She hit her palm with her fist at the last words. Had Aphrodite been there and not with her daily boy-toy, she would probably have slapped Gabrielle at the back of her head for that.

Xena just chuckled. 'Keep it up, _Gabriel.' _Xena turned and walked away and Gabrielle frowned for a second. What was it with the way she said Gabrielle's name? She did that whenever she was talking directly at the blonde... Gabrielle just shook it off and turned to Perdicus who had yet to learn how to close his mouth. 'Someone's going to build a nest in your mouth if you don't close it soon,' Gabrielle chuckled as Perdicus quickly closed is mouth and glared at her for a second.

'Again?' Gabrielle nodded.

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After two months of hard training, all the men had gotten several steps closer to becoming full fledged warriors. All except for Gabrielle. She hadn't done any better after catching the arrow almost two months prior. Perdicus had tried to help her with the training, even after the training sessions where done and the free days Xena had given them to relax.

The triplets loved messing with her, most of the men would have a field-trip every time she'd fail at something, especially if she was the only one. She was the failure there.. the clown.

The moon was coming out from it's hiding place and Gabrielle let herself fall on top of her sleeping rags.

Aphrodite looked up from her scroll. 'Tired?' Gabrielle didn't even gaze her way, let alone come up with something to say. She just grunted.

She was tired... so tired she felt like never getting up again.. she'd rather have the wild animals eat her alive! 'Here, drink this, it will do you good, Blondie,' The Goddess gave the tired warrior a mug filled with a strange kind of liquid. She sniffed it and scrunched her nose. 'What is that?' Gabrielle asked as she held the mug in her hands.

'If I tell you, you won't drink it...' Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. 'But trust me, it will do you good. Just drink it all at once,' Gabrielle nodded and did as she was told.

_Oh by the love of Zeus, that tasted like horrible!_

'Better?' The Goddess asked. Gabrielle dropped the mug after the liquid was all gone. 'That was disgusting! I'd rather have Joxer make the dinner again!'

The Goddess sat down next to Gabrielle. 'Better?' she asked again. Gabrielle frowned. Her muscles were still very sore, but she did feel better. She felt like she could actually stand up without having a horrible migraine. 'Yeh.. I do feel better! Thank you, Aphrodite!' The Goddess smiled and gave Gabrielle a one-arm hug.

'No problem, little one' She said with a smile and then laid back down on Perdicus' rags. Gabrielle watched her for a moment, while trying not to think of how the aftertaste was even worse than when she actually drank the liquid. 'You wanna tell me what was actually in the mug?'

'Nope' she simply said, while reading her scroll. 'Oh come on Aphrodite! Tell me!' The young girl whined.

Aphrodite kept reading. 'You know what you're missing here? a cute little love story. I mean, sure all the action and drama here is good, Ares would be proud, but I think Xena should be allowed to feel some love.. Just saying..' Gabrielle's eyes went wide. 'YOU READ MY SCROLLS?' She snatched the scroll from the goddess and tucked it under her pillow.

'Well when you just have it lying here for everyone to see, can you really blame me?'

Gabrielle just stared at her before she answered. 'It was in my backpack, at the very bottom, underneath several empty scrolls... wrapped inside some cloth!'

'Same difference' Gabrielle sighed and fell back on her rags. 'You're unbelievable...' she muttered. The Goddess only smiled. 'I know!'

Gabrielle was too tired to fight with the Goddess. Whatever the Goddess had given her did help, but she was still very tired. During advanced staff training, the very "kind" triplets had decided to have some fun. They had managed to sneak a huge bug into her shirt while she wasn't looking. something that got her to put up a very embarrassing show in front everyone.

She even accidently hit Xena in the stomach without knowing. That earned her a pretty angry glare… Oops?

other than that, things had gone pretty.. bad! most of the things Xena had made them do over the months where things that almost only Xena managed to do without problems. The only one who did worse than Gabrielle was Joxer, at least in a few of the things. Jace was doing slightly ok and Jet, Jet was one of the best ones in the squad. Same with Perdicus.

Today they were learning to dodge rocks with their staffs and also even hit back. It didn't go so well... at least Gabrielle wasn't the only one who failed in that department. But she was the only one who earned a pretty bad glare from Xena... The blonde did manage to miss all the rocks, but sending them in return was the hard part... She managed to hit one rock with her staff by accident.

It actually went flying towards Xena who missed it by inches… hence the glare. yeah she was just glad the bucket of water fell over her face before that.

Aphrodite's plan about Gabrielle getting on the captains' good site wasn't exactly going to happen anytime soon, that was for sure.

'Let's just say your pony helped with getting the ingredient...'

'What? Aphrodite!'

'I'm just saying horse uri-' The Goddess was met with a pillow. 'Don't finish that sentence...'

'Gabrielle?' Perdicus was standing by the entrance. Gabrielle looked from The Goddess to Perdicus. Oh right, he can't see her.. _He must think 'm crazy for talking to myself..._

'Who's this?' _Scratch that, he can see her?_

'Wait you can see her?' Gabrielle looked from the boy to the Goddess again.

'Ups, I forgot I took away the spell.. it was making me sleepy...' Aphrodite said as she giggled and looked away guilty. Gabrielle facepalmed.

'Wait, spell?' Perdicus was still confused. 'Perdicus this is Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love,' Gabrielle gestured to the other blonde.

By the Gods... You're The Aphrodite?' The Goddess smiled at the young man. 'Why yes I am,' she winked and Gabrielle looked disgusted.

'I thought you were out doing some late training,' Gabrielle said, wanting to change the subject. 'Uhm, yeh I was but I got a message from Xena. She wishes to see you,' The boy half said, half mumbled as he stared at the Goddess. 'What? Xena wants to see me?' Gabrielle jumped up, despite the pain in her legs, and arms, and next and head, and well her whole body. 'Calm down, Blondie.. don't lose your cool now,' The Godess mumbled. 'Yes, she said it was rather urgent,' Perdicus said as he finally looked up at Gabrielle. 'She's waiting by the horses on the east side of camp.'

'All right then! Aphrodite, mind if you explain everything to Perdicus, so that he won't be too confused?' The Goddess nodded. 'Sure sure, you just go and I'll keep Perdy here some company.' she said with a smirk. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and ran out of the tent.

What did Xena want?

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Gabrielle reached the east side with close to no troubles and saw Xena standing by Jared.

'You wanted to see me, Captain?' Gabrielle asked in her male voice. Xena just looked at her for a second before handing her the reins.

'Go home, _Gabriel_, You don't belong here.' Xena turned to leave but Gabrielle stepped in front of her. 'What? Why? I want to stay! I want to fight! I want to help in the fight against Callisto, just like everyone else in this camp!' Xena sighed.

'I appreciate your determination. But you're just not ready. You're far behind everyone else. I have been getting reports from the General, and he wants the recruits to be sent into battle in a couple of months. They've been following Callisto's army and tried to slow them down in the mountains, but we're losing men.' Gabrielle looked down at her boots and then up again.

'Then you need my help!' She simply said. She looked straight into the piercing blues and refused to look away. She wanted Xena to see she was not going to give up.

'It's been two months, you've barely improved during that time. We're leaving in another two months and I just don't believe you will be ready by then.'

'Give me a chance, Xena! I can be better! I'll show you!'

Xena shook her head. 'I couldn't handle it if you died in battle...' Gabrielle looked at her confused and Xena noticed. 'I mean, any of you.. I can't lose my men in battle because I wasn't good enough to train them,'

'You are good, Xena. And I'll show you that I am ready! I'll do anything!' Gabrielle was practically shouting at this point. Xena looked down at her boots like Gabrielle had done earlier and then looked right into the blonde's green eyes. They just stood there staring at each other for what seemed like ages. 'Alright, if you can manage to improve over these two months and catch up with the rest, you can come with us. But if you fail me, Gab-'

'I won't!' Gabrielle responded quickly with a smile. 'I won't let you down, Xena!' The taller warrior smiled and nodded. 'Alright then, I want you to meet me and Perdicus every night after dinner for extra training. okay? That also means every morning. You won't get much sleep, but if you are to catch up to the rest you have to work extra hard, is that clear?'

'Crystal,' Gabrielle smiled and as well did Xena. 'Good then,' She nodded towards the tents. 'You can go now,' and with that the warrior walked in the other direction. Gabrielle watched her walk away and smiled again. 'I'll show her, Jared. I am not going anywhere,'

* * *

_I felt like I owed it to those who're still reading my fic^^ I think this is my longest chapter so far actually O.o oh god!_

_I've gotten some new ideas that I think I can use so that the story will take it's own path, but it will take some time for me to rewrite the chapters, so I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but soon, don't worry ;)_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the cat! He's a cutie^^ **_


	11. Finally Some Privacy With the Captain

_I am sooo sooo sooo sooo sooo sooo sorry for not updating! To those who actually (still) read my fanfic, thank you! there's no excuse as to why I haven't updated.. other than the fact that I am a lousy updater! And I've currently lost all my energy so I have a really hard time to finish.. well anything! even schoolwork! But I thought u deserved another chapter._

_Someone asked if I was going to add the scene with the pole. that was the plan, but since I wanted to try and make it stand out from the movie I took away the pole and instead had Gabrielle catch the arrow. 'Listen not just to the sound, but what's behind the sound,' that is one of the most important things Gabrielle learn throughout the show, a skill she already gets to experience in season 1. So no pole, sorry xP_

**Disclamer:**_ I own nothing! Sadly..._

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**Chapter 11**

Things went better over next weeks. The training with Xena and Perdicus had shown great results and Gabrielle was quickly starting to catch up. She was even getting better than most of the men and Xena at the young warrior's quick improvement. She was truly standing by her word.

But even though Gabrielle's fighting skills were getting much better, her mood was not... it might be because of a slight problem with hygiene. She hadn't had a proper bath in Gods knows how long.

One night she couldn't take it anymore and so she snuck out of camp and quickly headed for the lake. It was pretty late so she doubted anyone would be around. Because of her improvement, Xena had rewarded Gabrielle with the night off.

'I'm not sure this is a good idea, Gabby… I mean what if someone sees you?' Aphrodite paced back and forth as Gabrielle quickly got out of her training clothes behind a three and some bushes.

'Just because I have to act like a man, it doesn't mean I have to smell like one,' Gabrielle took a sniff of her tunic and ended up making a very disgusted face before she threw it at Aphrodite.

She screamed in sudden horror and Gabrielle couldn't help but giggle over her reaction.

'How do you SURVIVE?' she gasped and held up Gabrielle's clothing with two fingers. 'That is DISGUSTING!'

Gabrielle jumped into the lake and sighed at the wonderful feeling. 'Hence the bath,' she simply smirked as the Goddess quickly threw away the garment as if it was carrying some kind of decease.

'Fine I get your point… but I still think you should be careful!' The blonde warrior ignored her.

'Yeah, well I'm going to head out, I have better to do than watch you clean yourself,' the Goddess was gone within a poof.

'Finally some privacy,' Gabrielle mumbled as she scrubbed her sore shoulders. Her peaceful thoughts were then suddenly interrupted by voices in the distance… Approaching… quickly!

Three (naked) triplets suddenly came into view, laughing and running towards the lake. Gabrielle quickly ducked under water and swam behind a couple of rocks, before she could be seen and luckily she missed the massive wave caused by the three brothers jumping into water at the same time.

Gabrielle silently begged the Gods for them to leave. Even though she had gotten to know the brothers more during the past few weeks she REALLY didn't want to be seen. She could be exposed!

'Joxer, stop throwing water at me! My hair is already messed up as it is!' one of the triplets screamed in a very weird accent. 'Stop being such a sissy, Jace. We're supposed to get wet so that we can get clean!' another replied, most likely Joxer. Gabrielle had noticed small differences between the triplets over the time she had spent with them.

Jet was the violent one. He's voice was dark and raspy compared to his brothers and he had a small scar above his left eyebrow which he had gotten from saving a maiden in need of rescue… Or so he claims. Joxer wasn't as violent, he was the one with all the bad jokes and his voice was more happy and cheery compared to Jet.

The third brother, Jace, was the one that stood out the most. Instead of his hair being black like his brothers, it was purple… and also styled differently. He was pretty girlish compared to his brothers and he really had a thing for feathers… but he was nice and also the one that treated Gabrielle the nicest.

Though she was surprised how Jace ever got into camp… actually she was wondering how the triplets all got in, when there was supposed to be only one man from each family. Apparently the three brothers stood each other close and if one had to go into war then they all would. They were determined to follow each other into death and hopefully back.

The brother continued splashing around, laughing and acting like children until someone interrupted their fun. 'Out,' a voice said. A female voice actually. Gabrielle peaked over the rock and noticed the dark figure of a tall woman. It was Xena. Gabrielle gulped and ducked behind the rock again.

_Oh this is just great! Now I'll never get out of here, _Gabrielle thought.

Without hesitating or speaking another word the three men quickly got out of the lake, not wanting to get into any trouble with the captain.

For what felt like an hour Gabrielle hid behind the rock, desperately trying not to make any kind of sounds… and to sneak a peek of the dark warrior. Though her curiosity was gradually taking over and she thought she'd take the risk. She carefully looked over the rock, slowly peeking towards the warrior who was floating with her back turned. Her eyes were about to pop out of her skull by the sight of her glistening wet and toned back. She quickly snapped back to reality when the dark warrior's head turned to where the blonde was hiding.

She ducked her head and held her breath. The dark warrior smirked as she watched the rock.

'You can come out now _Gabriel_, I know you're there.' The blonde's head again peaked up from behind the rock, her emerald green eyes connecting with the piercing blue. 'H... How did you know I was here?' Gabrielle nervously backed away from the rock, carefully making sure that only her neck went above the water. Xena only smirked.

'You need to work on your hiding skills. I could hear your rapid breathing ever since I came here…' she paused and her smirk never left her face.

'Especially when you tried to sneak a peek of me.' Gabrielle's cheeks grew several shades of red and looked down at the water surface rather than looking the other warrior in the eye.

Xena watched her for a second and smiled softly. 'Aaaand I could see the top of your head almost the entire time I was here.' She added with a laugh.

Gabrielle's palm connected with her forehead as she sank deeper under the water surface, deeply ashamed over her lacking hiding skills. 'Son of a Bacchae,' she muttered.

'I guess I still have much to learn then, don't I?' Xena gave the younger blonde a warm smile. 'Yes, you have much to learn, Gabrielle. In a way none of you will ever be truly ready. People learn something new almost every day, you can't expect to become a perfect warrior in just a few weeks, my friend.' She chuckled.

'Rome wasn't built in one day,' she winked at the blonde and started swimming circles around her. Gabrielle tried to stay calm as she was being circled and thought of what the other warrior had said. 'How did you hear me? I tried my best to stay silent and even if I did breathe loudly, it wouldn't be that easy to hear me, would it?'

Xena swam closer to her. 'You're right, it's not easy, because of all the other sounds. The animals and the insects, the water, the wind, they all make sounds that would overthrow your breathing. It's not just about listening, Gabrielle. Don't just listen to the sounds, but what's _behind_ the sounds,' Gabrielle was speechless. She never thought of that before. It must take years of training before someone would be able to divide each sound like that. To be able to listen to even the simplest things behind each sound.

Things were silent for a while and Xena kept swimming around the blonde, watching her carefully, as if she was waiting for something. And then it hit her. Xena had addressed her by her real name. And not just once, but twice! How could she be so stupid? How did she not notice that?

Gabrielle looked at Xena who simply smirked at Gabrielle's shocked face. Her eyes were practically screaming _About time!_

'You called me Gabrielle' she said in more of a statement than a question. Xena chuckled softly. 'Took your time, didn't you? Yes I called you Gabrielle, because that's your name, isn't it?' Gabrielle just floated in the water, her eyes wide. How could she know? Ok so her disguise wasn't exactly bulletproof but still!

She desperately tried to regain her fake man voice. 'Uh ehm… what makes you say that?' Xena just swam closer. 'You can stop with the acting now. I know you're not a man, I've known from the first second I saw you,' Gabrielle was silent. 'I'm not surprised the others didn't see right through you, but then again what can you expect? They barely have half a brain,'

'So… you knew… this whole time. Why didn't you report me to Brutus? I mean… I'm a woman, I'm not supposed to be here,' Gabrielle said.

Xena raised an eyebrow. 'So you say, just because you're a woman you're not supposed to be here? If you haven't noticed, Gabrielle, I am a woman as well. And not just that, I am also your commander. I am the leader of this entire group of men who knows close to nothing about battle strategy. It is up to me, to get them ready to face Callisto. You think I'm not supposed to be here?' Gabrielle didn't know what to say.

'But it's different with you,'

'How? How is it different with me? I am no different than you Gabrielle. I was once like you, but I worked hard and earned my respect among some of the greatest warriors. You can do the same. I didn't report you or blow your cover because I have faith in you. I believe you can become a fine warrior and that you are headed for greatness,' Still Gabrielle had no words.

'Someone once gave me a chance, so therefore I am giving you one as well,' she was very close to Gabrielle now, so close she could almost feel the breath on her face. 'But you almost kicked me out, because I couldn't do anything.' Xena looked down as she smiled and then looked up again. 'Yes, I did. I did that because I knew you wouldn't give up. I knew you would stand up to me and prove yourself... And you succeeded,' Green met blue once again and Gabrielle couldn't help but smile at the older warrior.

'And being the only woman among hundreds of men, thinking they're all that, can be _incredibly_ frustrating!' the dark haired warrior added to lighten the tension between them. Gabrielle laughed and their eyes never lost contact.

'So what was the flirting about?' She then asked, immediately wishing she could take it back.

'You think I flirted with you?' She was smirking and Gabrielle become a little more hesitant. 'Weren't you?' Xena's smirk just grew wider and her eyes grew darker.

'Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.' she replied smugly. _Oh she was so flirting, _Gabrielle thought. _Fine, two can play that game._

'I think you did,' Gabrielle simply said and this time it was she who swam closer to the other warrior. Now they were so close that Gabrielle could most definitely feel Xena's warm breath on her face.

'Oh, yeah?' Xena questioned.

'Oh, yeah' Gabrielle's green eyes glanced at the warriors lips before she looked up at her blue eyes again. Suddenly she felt as if someone had just bit her behind and squealed in sudden pain. 'Wuaaah! I think an eel just bit me!' Xena chuckled at the blonde's sudden reaction.

'Well you are quite _bitable_,' she stated and the blonde girl turned to look into Xena's were those dark eyes again. Xena moved closer to Gabrielle and was just about to catch the younger woman's lips when suddenly someone called from the distance.

_By the love of Zeus! What is it with people and bad timing?_

BOO! HISS! GAH!

Gabrielle inwardly screamed as Xena looked up. 'It's Brutus,' she groaned.

'I was supposed to talk to him about having the recruits meet up with the rest of the army.' She moved to get out of the lake and Gabrielle turned away against her own will. When she turned back to look at Xena she was already fully clothed in her leather and armor.

'I'll see you tomorrow during practice, and don't think you'll have it any easier by flirting with the teacher,' she smirked and winked at the blonde and then she was gone, leaving Gabrielle all alone in the lake that suddenly felt so much colder.

* * *

_This chapter I had planned from the very beginning! Some of you thought it seemed strange that Xena didn't see through Gabby's disguise, well here you have it! She knew the entire time xP_

_Hopped you liked this chapter, sort of my way as saying soooooorry ;)_

_Again I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Once I find the energy to continue with this fic, you will get more ;) Though I have been working on another fic, that will be up very soon. My inspiration goes all over the place hehe. rememberer now! R/R makes me smile! XP _


	12. Brutus Meets The Goddess of Love

_There's no excuse for my lack of updates.. I'm sooooo sorry tho! Since it's Christmas tho, I thought I'd be nice^^_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing sadly enough, tho I wouldn't mind having Gabby! as my best friend of course XD_**

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Chapter 12

As Gabrielle was walking back to her tent she couldn't help but overhear a high pitched voice coming from one of them.

'You think your recruits are ready to fight?' Brutus yelled (read: squealed like a girl).

This must have been what Xena was talking about. 'HA! They wouldn't even last a minute against Callisto's army!' as Gabrielle stood there she felt like beating the Tartarus out of the ass-kissing advisor. Her mental images of Brutus being hung from a tree by his toes were quickly interrupted as she heard another voice. It was Xena.

'They completed their training' she simply, but sternly said.

'Those _boys_ are no more fit to be warriors than you are fit to be captain!' Brutus smugly said while putting extra pressure on the word boys. Those were men! Men who were ready to serve their people! Xena's eyes widened at his rude remark and stood up. Brutus ignored her way of trying to take control and continued.

'Once the general reads my report,' he proudly pointed at his scroll as he talked. 'Your recruits will never even get to see the battlefield,' he was about to walk out, thinking he had won this argument, but Xena roughly grabbed him by his arm and turned him around to face her. 'We're not finished, Brutus!' The advisor just looked at her with a smirk as he untangled himself from the warrior's grasp. 'Be careful _Captain…_ The general may be your daddy, but _I _am the Emperor's advisor, and you do _not_ want to get on my bad side,' Brutus turned to leave.

The general was Xena's father? That's one thing she chose to keep out of her life story, Gabrielle thought as she continued to listen to the conversation. Just as Brutus was about to leave the tent, he chose to be a bit more bold and once again turned towards the dark warrior. 'And oh, for your information, Xena… I got the job by myself, I worked hard to get where I am today, and I made myself worthy of it. ...unlike someone else' he finished and before he could leave the tent, Xena pushed him into a pole and held on to his collar.

Brutus looked absolutely terrified by Xena's actions and Xena just stared at him. her face inches from hers. She let go off him and pushed past him before leaving the tent.

Gabrielle hid behind some bushes, but she had the feeling that Xena knew she was there the entire time during the conversation. But still, she never moved. She figured that the dark warrior would need some time on her own.

'You don't have to hide from me Gabrielle, I know you're there…' Or maybe not?

Gabrielle rose from behind the bush and nervously walked up to Xena. 'For what it's worth… I think you're a great captain,' she said with a soft smile.

Xena returned a weak, but yet a thankful smile before she slightly bowed her head and turned to leave. Once again leaving Gabrielle all alone in the silent night. Gabrielle continued to smile as she watched Xena disappear into darkness and was by far not ready for it when Aphrodite suddenly popped up behind her, scaring the Tartarus out of her in the process.

'I saw that,' she said as she "helped" Gabrielle back up on her feet. 'Saw what?' Gabrielle asked confused. 'The way you looked at tall, dark and sexy right now,' she raised an eyebrow, giving the young blonde a knowing look. 'You like her, don't you?'

'Noooooo, why would you think that,' Gabrielle asked, doing a lousy job at lying.

Aphrodite just looked at her with piercing eyes looking for truth and crossed arms. 'Well the flirting down by the lake kind of gave everything away...' Gabrielle's eyes grew wide.

Had no one heard of privacy?

'You saw that? I thought you were doing some godly work or something! Giving me my peace!' Gabrielle waved her arms frantically as she spoke. 'Chill Blondie! I was bored and I saw warrior babe walking towards the lake, so I thought I'd watch out for you just in case…' the goddess tried not to look into the other blonde's eyes.

'How would I know you guys would start flirting? And the fact that she knew you were a girl the whole time... wow, shocked even me!' a nice attempt on changing the subject and Gabrielle let it pass, not wanting to argue about it. She gazed towards where Xena had been a moment earlier and she smiled again. A soft smile that revealed everything to the goddess of love.

'Well I'm glad she knows, one less person I need to worry about.' Aphrodite cocked her head and smiled as Gabrielle spoke. 'She's a lot different than I thought, Aphrodite. I think it'll be a lot easier having her know… don't you?' she turned towards the goddess.

'Hmm well considering she's not going to report you and she might be good rescue in case your bad acting decides to get even worse… yes, yes I agree,' Gabrielle just smiled and Aphrodite looked around the area (probably looking for a new boy toy for the night) as awkward silence fell upon them.

'Well I should probably get to bed,' Gabrielle turned to leave. 'Yeah get some sleep, I expect you to rise and shine tomorrow morning!' the goddess yelled after her and Gabrielle couldn't help but chuckle. 'I'll rise but I refuse to shine,' and with that she turned and went to find her tent.

The goddess gazed after the young warrior. 'I guess it's time for the Goddess of Love to use some of her charm, don't you?' she looked down towards a lone cricket, minding its own business. It ignored her and jumped away. Aphrodite sighed as she watched the cricket disappear.

'Thought so… I'm talking to a cricket… I must be going mental,' and with a pop she was gone.

She popped into Brutus' tent, just as he was about to lie down to sleep. He stood there with wide eyes as the Goddess of Love herself stood before him in all her glory.

'Oh mighty Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, have you come here to fulfill my greatest wish? Am I finally good enough for your standards as a lover?' Aphrodite cringed at his words.

'Uhm yeah, well I'm not really here for _that _just yet… We can... Discuss that later,' she said with a wink and Brutus smiled proudly. The Goddess of Love in his tent.

'Then why am I honored by your presence,' he asked as he bowed and tried to offer the goddess a drink. _I wouldn't accept that as a mortal, not even as a god! _she thought, but politely declined the beverage. 'I am… uh… sent by Ares,'

'The God of War?' Brutus asked.

_Duh! Who else could it be? _

'Yes the God of War,' she answered while rolling her eyes. 'He wants the recruits to join up with the rest of the army, it's very urgent!' Brutus looked confused.

'But why isn't he here delivering this message himself? Or why haven't the general sent a messenger?' Aphrodite inwardly screamed in frustration.

This was obviously harder than she thought.

'Weeeell the general is too busy fighting and my sweet, sweet brother is too busy with… war…' Brutus seemed to believe the lie, but also seemed a bit suspicious.

Aphrodite closed her eyes and begged… herself for help for what she was about to do.

'And of course I wanted to come down here to talk to you and I thought why not kill two crickets with one rock?' This time Brutus seemed much less suspicious as his eyes lit up.

'And what did you want to talk about, Goddess?' Aphrodite gave a fake smile. 'Please, call me Aphrodite,' she said as she sat down next to Brutus on his rags. 'Of course…. Aphrodite,' he blushed as he said the Goddess' name.

'Now I want you to tell your captain to send the recruits to meet up with the army and then I'll do something for you in return,' her fake smile appearing again.

'And what is that, Aphrodite?' He asked, inching closer to the not-so-comfortable goddess.

'This,' she said and quickly flicked the man on his forehead. He stopped momentarily and looked as if he was in some kind of trance. 'Oh thank the gods that is over,' she breathed as she looked at the thin advisor simply staring at her with empty eyes.

'Now, like I said before, you are to go to your captain and tell her that the recruits are ready and they have to meet up with the rest of the army at their request. Do you understand?' He nodded.

'You will not remember me being here or telling you this, but you will-…' she snapped her fingers and a scroll appeared. '…-give this to Xena and tell her it is an urgent matter,' she handed him the scroll, patted his head as if he was her loyal dog and then got up.

'When you go out of this tent you will have forgotten all of this… Now go!' she pointed towards the exit of the tent and he rose from his seat and left. She sat there for a second, looking at the exit before a sudden realization hit her.

'Why didn't I just put a spell on him from the beginning instead of wasting my precious charm and time on him? Gosh sometimes I wonder why I'm a god…'

/

Meantime in Xena's tent. 'Captain! Urgent news from the general!' Brutus stumbled into Xena's tent while tightly grasping the scroll he had gotten from Aphrodite.

Xena turned to face him with confusion. 'The recruits are needed for battle!' the advisor squealed as he handed her the scroll. As Xena quickly read the scroll and Brutus tried to catch his breath (no idea why though, his tent isn't that far from Xena's), Aphrodite stood in the middle of them smirking. Of course they were as usual oblivious to her presence.

'You better pack your bags, Blondie. We're moving out!' she said to herself and popped out to give the news to Gabrielle (with of course leaving out the details and adding in a white lie or two).

* * *

_Alright, I'm now going to go through what's left of the chapters and change.. more or less EVERYTHING which will probably take a while so again.. no idea when the next update will be but if you're lucky I might give you one more chapter before 2010 ends^^_

_Merry Christmas!_


	13. A Difficult Past

_I am very very very sorry for not updating.. honestly I was close to just letting this fic die but that wouldn't be fair to those who still read the fic._

_So I've been trying to work on how to change the storyline and make it well less Mulan xD_

_Thank you to those two still added it to alert^^_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Disney's Mulan or Xena_**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

The Imperial Army had broken camp after a long and tiresome day. They had come across yet another village that had been destroyed from Callisto's rampage.

There were no survivors. Not even women and children. The old general watched his men with a broken heart. He didn't understand how someone could do such a horrible thing.

Let alone a woman. What had happened to this women? Something must have been done to her to make her become such a horrible monster.

'We start out early tomorrow at dawn! We must travel fast if we are to match up to Callisto's men before they reach the Emperor's location!'

The men nodded in understanding and continued with setting up camp.

The Emperor had decided against hiding in Rome, so far away from the rampage. He had felt it was wrong, even after his many advisors had tried to convince him that it was safer if he stayed as far away as possible. He was determined to stop Callisto and he would fight her himself if he could. He had known that little would stop Callisto from getting to him and hiding in Rome would not be of more help. She would come to him somehow and more people would fall by her sword. So he was hiding in Greece, protected by the elite soldiers.

The Imperial Army were on their way to greet him. But the General had gotten news that Callisto knew of the Emperor's location. So it was a race against time. The Emperor's location was a two weeks travel from where they were and he figured Callisto was probably half a day away. Maybe a a day at most.

But what he didn't know was that as the General entered his tent, he was being watched.

Hidden in the mountains stood Callisto, gazing down at the camp with a wicked smile across her lips and a glint of pure evil was visible in her eyes.

She was expertly hidden by the mountain side, as was her men. They had all spread out and were watching with wicked smiles of their own as the army lower their guards.

'Oh don't worry, General. I'm not in a hurry. In fact I have all the time I need,' the blonde warrior muttered as she bit her lower lip in anticipation.

'Let's go have some fun boys,'

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The recruits packed up camp early and got ready for a long journey ahead of them. According to the General's last report the army had turned course and gotten closer to Callisto's army.

It would take Xena and the recruits only a few days to catch up. On the second day Gabrielle was already getting very tired, they had barely gotten any sleep because they had to keep up the pace and listening to the triplets talking about how they couldn't wait for all the girls that would be surrounding them when they got home wasn't exactly much entertainment.

Though Jace was more looking forward to getting back to his beloved nightclub (yes he owned a nightclub, where he would usually sing three times a week). But the rest of the brothers... they were just daydreaming about all the ladies. Gabrielle just walked ahead of them and tried to ignore what they were saying.

Out of nowhere a hand was placed on her shoulder and she turned around to see whose hand it was. She was faced with Perdicus smiling down at her. 'Perdicus, thank the gods! I thought you were one of the triplets!' Gabrielle smiled up at him. 'Hey _Gabriel_,' Gabrielle cocked her head. They were within earshot of the other recruits and Perdicus was always careful with what he called her when in public. He was careful not to blow her cover.

'Thank you,' she whispered.

'For what?' Gabrielle looked straight into the eyes of the man who had been so smitten by her for so long.

'For helping me, and not telling anyone who I really am,'

'Gab, I've known you since we were young. Of course I'm here to help you out,'

Gabrielle smiled. 'You're a great man, Perdicus,' Perdicus just chuckled and patted her shoulder.

'There's more to me than what meets the eye, Gabrielle. I tried to show you that several times,' he said in a low voice so that no one would hear them.

'I know. I'm sorry, Perdicus, for never seeing you the way you wanted me to. It was just that I never thought of you in that way, you were my closest friend, you still are in fact, and the thought of you and me… it just didn't seem right for me.' She looked up into her friend's eyes and she could see that he was a bit disappointed over what she had said, but at the same time he knew it was coming.

'It's ok. I knew there would never be anything between us. It was just that our parents were too desperate to put us together,' he smiled at the young blonde.

'I'll be fine,' he said with a wink. 'Though if you could put in a good word with your sister, that would be great,' Gabrielle grinned and shook her head.

'You really bounce back fast, I must say,' the young man just chuckled but never responded.

It was quiet between them for a while as they marched. It was kind of peaceful. It was good to have a friend around that she could trust. And now there was also Xena.

'So what do you know about Xena?' she asked her childhood friend curiously. Perdicus turned to look at Gabrielle as he walked. he smiled knowingly. 'I know a few things from here and there. I've asked some of the men who's been here the longest what her deal is. They told me a few things, like when she was younger, she was pretty wild and rebellious. She was a real fighter, alright. Already then she could fight with the strenght of ten men, but she would never listen to reason or anything her father told her to do.. Didn't want anything to do with the army either. She wanted to be free. to see the world.'

Gabrielle knew what he meant. She had felt the same way, also wanting to be free. By hearing this she felt more and more connected to the dark warrior.

Perdicus never took his eyes off the road ahead as he spoke, but Gabrielle on the other hand continued to watch him with even more curiosity than ever.

It was a wonder she hadn't stumbled and fallen on her face yet.

'What changed?' she ashed, urging him to continue the story.

Perdicus looked down and let out a sigh. 'Her brother, Lyceus, was a fine warrior. One a general would be proud of. He was also a brother Xena looked up to. He taught her everything, though he couldn't tame her rebellius side. One day when they were out fishing they met a few thugs who wanted money. Luceus protected Xena and defeated the thugs. Or so he thought... Turned out they weren't normal thugs, but assassins sent to kill him. One of them had been hiding in the bushes with a crossbow.. waiting for the right time to strike,' by the look on Gabrielle's face as she watched the dark warrior in front of her, it was easy to understand she didn't really want to know what happened next.

But Perdicus didn't notice this and continued. 'They were smart. they knew that if they had aimed at him, he would've heard it and dodged it, but if they aimed it at Xena..-' Gabrielle's sight started becoming more blurry due to the fresh tears forming.

She refused to let them out, she was stronger than this.

She motioned Perdicus to continue the story. 'If they aimed the crossbow at Xena, he would most likely hear it and take the bullet in her place... and so he did.. the assassins got away and Lyceus died in Xena's arms. After that she became a whole different woman. She demanded to join the army in his place. To continue his journey from where it had ended for him. The general had already lost one son, and refused to lose Xena as well, but he saw the detemination in her eyes and gave her a chance. Since then she's been all over, picking up new fighting skills and weapons. She became stronger than Lyceus could ever dreamed about.' The blonde warrior gazed once again over at the captain ahead of her.

Xena had gone through a lot. It must've been horrible for her to lose her brother to such a horrible faith. Gabrielle couldn't help but wonder how Perdicus knew all this. she wasn't sure she could believe he got all that from fellow warriors. As if he had read her mind he answered her question.

'Xena and I are old acquaintances.. remember a few summers ago I went on that trip to, in a way, find myself?' Gabrielle nodded.

'Well we met then, she was on a journey, looking for knowledge and we happened to be heading the same way. We became close companions on that short journey. She's actually a very good and caring person, especially when she finds the courage to open up. Just give her time, Gabrielle. She'll come around.' he said with a knowing look. Gabrielle didn't have the time to asking him what he meant before they heard something in the distance and Xena motioned for everyone to stop in their tracks.

They weren't too far from a small village, Gabrielle remembered she had passed by here on her way to camp. It wasn't too far from Potidaea either.

A young man came into view. He looked scared and weakened as he ran towards us with great difficulty. 'Captain!,' he yelled. His voice was hoarse and he had a large gash on his right shoulder and his arm was covered with his own dried blood. It was one of the army's scouts.

Xena ran up towards him and caught him just before his legs gave in. 'What happened?' Xena asked as she checked his wound.

'Callisto's army surprised us from behind... Almost two days ago... I'm sorry captain for not getting to you faster, but my horse was killed and I couldn't-'

'It's alright, don't worry. Where were you attacked?' Xena asked. She signaled for Gabrielle to come over. 'Press down here,' she muttered to the blonde and started looking for any hidden wounds.

'Just outside a village, about three hours up north,' the scout whispered. He was weak. He had lost too much blood. 'Xena... There were no other survivors... Callisto killed everyone... She's heading for the Emperor's hiding place...'

How far ahead is she?' Xena had given up on his wounds. He didn't have much left and the scout knew it. 'I don't know... I'm not sure how long I was out, but the tracks seemed pretty fresh... She doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry,'

'Then we can catch up to her,' Xena muttered, her mind somewhere else.

'Xena, we can't go up against Callisto's army alone,' Gabrielle said as she tried to wipe away some of the blood on the scout's forehead.

'We have to try. Callisto is closing up on the Emperor's location,' Xena countered.

'She just took down the Imperial Army,' Perdicus called out from where he was standing. The rest of the men looked uneasy by this.

'Which means, we're the only hope for the Emperor now,' The tall warrior rested a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder to stop her from cleaning the scouts wounds.

He was dead. Gabrielle sighed and moved to close his eyes.

Xena got up on her feet and turned to her men. 'There might be survivors left in the village. We can be there within a couple of hours and catch up to Callisto from there,'

'What about the scout?' Gabrielle asked.

'We don't have time to give him a proper burial...' Xena answered distantly and motioned for everyone to move.

'So we're just going to leave him?' Gabrielle wasn't giving up. She ran to catch up with Xena.

'If we don't stop Callisto now, all hope is lost! Now you do as you're told soldier!' the dark-haired woman snapped.

Gabrielle stopped in her tracks and just watched Xena as she continued in her tracks. She was met by Perdicus.

'She's right...' he muttered and walked past her.

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_There you go ;) I changed the whole chapter and added a few new things which means it became longer than I planned and I had to cut it, so hopefully you will get another chapter very soon ;)_

_Again I am sorry for the lack of updates! I will try and not leave this story to die. Cross my heart._

_Thanks again for all the reviews! your words and advices really means a lot to me^^_


	14. Sorrow for the Fallen

_New chapter! I'm gonna see if I can finish this fic up completely because I really don't wanna leave it around to just die XD_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Xena or Disney's Mulan..._**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Xena and her troops entered the village in complete silence and utter shock.

None of the men were used to such a view.

Not even Xena could keep her calm as she gazed at the horrible scene in front of her.

Gabrielle and Perdicus pushed past the troops and ran up to stand next to Xena.

Once Gabrielle had a clear view she suddenly had the urge to throw up.

She fell down to her knees, tears running down her cheeks as she gazed down at the ruined village.

'By the gods...,' she muttered with sorrow filling her eyes.

Perdicus draped an arm around the blonde warrior turned to Xena. 'How can someone do this? These are women! Children!'

Xena didn't answer at first. She got off her horse and took a few steps towards the village.

Everything was burned down and bloody bodies were carelessly scattered around.

The Scout was right. There were no survivors.

'Callisto is a monster, Perdicus... she does not care about the life of women and children or life in general. All she cares about is the thrill she gets from the blood on her hands,' Xena was wearing an expressionless mask as she just kept staring at the lifeless mess. She turned to the triplets. 'you three look for possible survivors,' she ordered.

'Xena, the scout told us there were no survivors,' Gabrielle tried to reason.

The dark warrior turned to the younger bard. 'Where are the soldiers,_ Gabriel_? Where is the general and his men? There are only women and children here!' She turned her gaze to the rest of her men. 'We have work to do! Split up! look for survivors,' she ordered and then turned and walked into the village. Everyone did as they were told and checked the bodies.

The smell was overbearing and Gabrielle gave up the fight with her tears and let them run freely. They had murdered children. Children and women and old ones. Not a single soul had been spared.

How could anyone be so cruel? So monstrous? She looked down at a little girl lying there so peacefully as if she was asleep. She bent down on her knees, her tears falling down on the small body as she gently brushed the little girl's bangs away from her pale face. How could Callisto do this? What was it that she was trying to achieve by killing innocent children? She had heard so many vile stories about this woman.

How she was feared by everyone and how she would not give anyone mercy unless it was for her own gain. But Gabrielle always thought most of the stories were a bit over the top, they were after all stories told by men around the bonfire. She heard soft footsteps behind her as they walked over the dead grass. Gabrielle already knew who it was but she rose to her feet anyways and turned to meet Xena's eyes. This time they weren't empty and expressionless as before.

They were filled with sorrow. Sorrow for the fallen.

And also fear. 'I don't understand...' she said, her voice barely above a whisper. 'Where are they?' Gabrielle took a step towards the taller woman and went to comfort but before she got the time Joxer called out from the distance, making all eyes turn to him.

'Captain! Over here!' He was standing on top of a hill looking down at the other side. Men were moving towards him to see what he was looking at but Xena beat them all to it. She sprinted up the hill to meet the fellow warrior.

When she reached him and looked out the horizon her face turned into shock. She fell to her knees and that's when Gabrielle ran up to see what it was all about.

She thought she'd never see Xena react like that. Unless one thing.

Gabrielle reached the others and what she feared turned out to be real. She fell to her knees next to Xena and took a hold of her shoulders, taking her in for a comforting hug and Xena sobbed on her shoulder. She no longer held her emotions in.

Several bodies were scattered out in front of them. And these were not the bodies of the villagers but the bodies of fellow warriors that Gabrielle remembered from the first day in camp.

It was the army that Xena's father, the General, had brought with him to stop Callisto once and for all. The Emperor's best men were all lying down there in a mass of death and for the first time Gabrielle was truly scared. Of course she had been scared several times, but that was of being caught, she had never even thought of the chance of dying, until now.

Now for the first time she was afraid of failing, of all of them to fail, of Callisto taking over and killing everyone in her path. She was afraid of everyone that would lose their lives if they failed.

All the innocent people… all the children.

The men were searching for possible survivors among their fellow companions, so far none had been found. The scout had been the only survivor.

Jace walked up towards Xena. His face pale, his head bowed down and in his hand he had a sword. A sword that Xena recognized immediately. It was her father's.

Gabrielle let go of Xena as she rose to her feet to meet the young man. Jace bowed his head and held out the blood sword with with shaky hands and spoke in a low whisper. 'I'm sorry Captain…' tears were forming in Xena's eyes as she took the sword from Jace. She was shaking as she stood there, tears running down her soft cheek, dripping over the dried blood.

She turned away from everybody else and walked down the hill and into the open field where now bodies lay close.

She cleaned off the dry blood before she raised it high above her head and then sent it straight to the ground.

Making sure it stuck, she went down on her knees and mumbled some words, only meant for the spirit of her father to hear.

Gabrielle decided to walk up to her and maybe try and comfort her, and so she did. 'I'm sorry, Xena.' She said as she put a gentle hand on Xena's shoulder. The other warrior rose up and blue met green. She attempted to smile but failed miserably and put hand on Gabrielle's shoulder in the same way Gabrielle had done to her.

'It's not your fault, Gabrielle... it's mine. I should've have known, I should have warned him.'

'How? There's nothing you could've done,'

She looked down, tears streaming down her face and Gabrielle gently held a finger under her chin and held her face up.

'There's nothing any of us could've done. You're father died a hero,' she took the opportunity to wipe away the warriors tears with her thumb. 'We have plenty of time to grief later, but right now we need to get to the Emperor first to warn him.'

Xena chuckled softly and for some reason Gabrielle didn't quite understand why. 'Look at you giving me orders. All of the sudden you take the commando?' Gabrielle looked down and smiled. 'Well we're not ready to lose our Captain just yet. Now come on! We need a leader.' She took a few steps back, waiting for Xena to follow her. Xena smiled at the young blonde in front of her and shook her head. 'aye aye!' And then they went on to rejoin the rest of the group.

Xena got up on her horse and turned to the men. 'Men! I know we have just witnessed a shocking scene, and I know some of you may feel that all hope is lost now. But as long as the heart of the last man beats, there is still hope!'

Several of the men nodded at Xena's words. 'We must stop Callisto before she can do more harm and before she reaches the Emperor,' Xena gazed down at Gabrielle who nodded for her to continue. 'She is less than a day ahead of us and if we continue now, we might be able to stop her army before any more damage can be done!'

She grabbed the rains tightly. 'Keep your eyes and ears open! If Callisto is moving slowly on purpose she might be expecting us. If we use the shortcut and go through this pass we can get to the next village before her army and surprise them with a frontal attack,' she turned to the direction of the pass.

'Move out!' she called out again and rode off. Gabrielle joined up with Perdicus and the triplets followed closely behind them with the rest of the men walking quickly in the back. Everyone with heads down, silently praying to the gods for direction in this lonely hour. What they needed now was a miracle. And good news.

Perdicus grabbed Gabrielle's arm and stopped her from going any further.

'What's wrong, Perdicus?' Gabrielle asked rather worried when she noticed is expression.

'Gabrielle... you do know what's behind that pass right?' he nodded towards the pass they were heading for.

Gabrielle just shook her head and Perdicus gazed at her for what seemed like ages.

'Beyond that pass... is Potidaea,' he whispered.

* * *

_Yes it is turning completely into a different direction now! HORACE IS IN DANGER O.o XD_

_Not sure when the next update will be but for now.. enjoy^^_

_Hope you liked this chapter and thank you to everyone who still reads and haven't totally given up on this story^^_


	15. Home is Where You Belong

_Someone approached me on DeviantArt of all places and told me they checked this place every day for an update because they loved it so much, now that really warmed my heart and therefore I decided to try and fix an update for you guys^^' Enjoy!_

**_Disclaimer: Neither Xena nor Gabrielle belongs to me.. same with the epic Goddess of Love XD I own nothing!_**

* * *

_Does this darkness have a name?_

_This cruelty, this hatred._

_How did it find us?_

_Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it?_

_/_

The warriors walked silently through the pass, making sure that their presence wouldn't be revealed if the enemy was anywhere close.

The triplets were completely silent, which was rather unusual for them, even at a time like this. Not a single word had come from their mouth since they had left the village.

Everyone had really been struck hard by the past events. Gabrielle gazed towards Xena who was riding on Argo at the head of the team.

Her head was bowed and it looked as if she was going to fall off any second. Was she really strong enough to get through this?

First her brother and now her father? She knew what was right and what they had to do, and everyone knew that emotions could not get in the way at a time like this, but everything that had happened at the village had struck them hard and Gabrielle was afraid that this might have been too much for the dark warrior. After all, she had now lost the two only people who had ever believed in her.

'You believe in her, kiddo,' The blonde warrior turned to her right and was faced with Aphrodite's warm smile. 'As do Perdicus, and myself,' she added.

'But she lost her whole family... she has no one,' Gabrielle whispered. She doubted any of the other men could see her as well.

Perdicus gazed over at us and winked.

Except for Perdicus of course...

'She has you,' Aphrodite mused and Gabrielle simply shook her head. 'I'm a nobody... I shouldn't even be here!' she muttered angrily.

Next thing she knew she felt a hard smack on the back of her head.

'OW!'

A few heads turned around puzzled.

''Stepped on a rock,' she said quickly with an innocent smile and the men went back to their brooding.

'What was that for?' Gabrielle hissed at the Goddess.

'You're talking to the Goddess of Love here! You really think I would be following you around if you were a nobody?'

'Well... no, but-'

'Then you got it! you're not a nobody, Gabrielle. You've got something few warriors have, Girl,'

'And that is?'

'Compassion, the ability to feel. The ability to see what is the right thing to do,'

Gabrielle just shook her head. 'That doesn't seem important right now...'

'Well, if you'd rather want Ares to follow you around then sure, I'll send for him right away,'

'Nooo! No, no, there's no need to call for Ares,' She gave the Goddess a light smile and and patted her on the shoulders.

'You stay,' she added. 'I need to talk to Xena,'

Gabrielle hurried past the other men and caught up to Xena. She looked horrible. Beautiful, gorgeous, but horrible.

'Are you ok?' Gabrielle asked as she stroke Argo's side.

'I'm fine, _Gabriel_,' the warrior princess replied in a hoarse voice.

'You don't _look_ fine,' Gabrielle replied.

Xena just shook her head with a slight smile. 'Nah, I look terrible,' she chuckled. 'Thank you for noticing,' she gave the blonde woman a warm smile before turning her gaze back to the road ahead.

'How much further?' Gabrielle asked.

'We'll be there soon. Through this pass is the fastest way to the next village,'

Gabrielle gazed up at the mountain sides. 'You'd think Callisto would know that...' she muttered.

'She does... But Callisto is the madness itself. She wants us to be there when she takes the village down...' Xena muttered back.

'It's your home, isn't it... the next village...' Xena continued.

Gabrielle could only nod.

* * *

/***********************************/**************

_Meow..._

Potidaea's favorite cat was happily running around, catching tiny rodents, with not a single care in the world.

A young brunette was watching the tubby cat with a smile.

'Hey baby boy, what are you doing?' Lila asked sweetly as sat down in the tall grass and continued to watch the orange cat happily jump around.

_Meow..._

'Interesting... I'm talking to a cat,' the girl sighed.

she laid down on her back and watched the clouds slowly form and move.

It was rather peaceful but yet empty. Something was missing and she knew what it was.

Gabrielle.

It had been a while since Gabrielle left them behind. And since then things hadn't been the same. Things had been rather boring actually. Gabrielle had always been the joy and laughter in Potidaea, making everyone smile and laugh as she passed by or told one of her many stories.

Lila had to admit it, she missed her older sister dearly.

She didn't know if she'd ever see her again.

Suddenly there was a call sounding in the distance. The sound of someone blowing a horn.

Lila turned to the source of the sound. She couldn't see anything but it was clear. someone was coming.

'Father!' she called as she ran towards the farm. Herodotus had heard the calls as well and was staring into the distance as she came up behind him.

'I heard it... it's the call from the Imperial Army,' he said silently as he slowly started walking towards the town square.

'The Imperial Army?' Lila asked as she followed her father. She wasn't completely understanding what was going on.

The pair reached the town square along with most of Potidaea's people.

'What is going on?' one asked.

'Tell me they don't want more recruits...' another pleaded.

They all turned their gaze towards the pass and moments later a dark haired woman on a golden horse appeared, followed by several warriors.

'That's Xena!'

'The Warrior Princess!'

'The Imperial Army!'

But Lila was ignoring the calls from the other villagers.

There was only one thing she was focused on.

A warrior walking by the dark haired woman's side.

A blonde warrior with a broad smile on her face.

It was Gabrielle.

'Father! look!' Lila pointed for her father to see.

'Gabrielle,' he gasped.

'Lila! Father!' Gabrielle called as she ran towards her family.

She engulfed them both in a big hug.

'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for leaving you like that,' Gabrielle sobbed as she hugged her father.

'It's alright my dear... you're home now, that is all that matters,' he whispered.

* * *

_I was supposed to upload this like last week but for some reason wouldn't let me log in -.-' and then I was busy with work. but it's up now! slightly short, but the family is finally reunited! and they arrived before Callisto! what will happen next? And will Gabrielle be able to hide her identity any longer?_


	16. This is the Last Stand

_I am very very veeery sorry for those who are still reading this fic, thank you for those who haven't given up on it. A lot has happened the last few months. my external broke and took away all my chapters, school has been a bitch, I've had problems with a lot of personal stuff and I've suffered from writer's block. A lot of excuses I know, but here's another chapter. Hope you will enjoy it^^_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing! I really do wish I owned Xena's soft side tho! D'aww!_**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

'I missed you so much,' Gabrielle hugged her sister.

'How could you leave me behind, Gabrielle? How could you?' Lila sobbed as she hugged Gabrielle tightly, refusing to let go.

'Gabrielle?'

Both the blonde warrior and her sister looked up at the person who had spoken.

It was Brutus. 'You said _'Gabrielle',_'

He stood right behind them, shock all over his face.

'I knew it! I knew something was wrong with you the second you arrived at camp!' Brutus yelled. Gabrielle took a step back from the furious advisor and looked at Xena for help.

Xena got off her horse and quickly tried to calm Brutus down.

'Brutus, please-'

'She is a woman! The Imperial Army is no place for women!,' he got away from Xena's grasp.

'This.. woman is an imposter!' he yelled to the army. Some men looked at Gabrielle in shock, including the trio. Others looked at Brutus as if he was mad.

Xena tried to restrain him again. 'And you!' he continued, pointing a finger at the taller warrior. 'You knew about this imposter and you said nothing! I should report you! You are not fit as a captain!'

'Will you be quiet for one second?' Xena yelled, which made Brutus gulp and then shut up.

'Yes, I knew Gabrielle was a woman from the very beginning,'

'Then why did you not report her true identity? Women are not allowed in the army,' Brutus said with a smug face.

'Last time I checked, Brutus, I was a woman as well. How come I am allowed in the army then?' Xena countered which made Brutus smug face falter. 'Well... that is because you are a warrior, you know how to fight,'

'So does Gabrielle. She is a warrior in every sense of the word! And I will not have any of my men looking down at her!' Xena said through gritted teeth.

'I answer only to the Emperor,' Brutus answered in defence.

'Well, the Emperor is not here, so now you answer to me,'

Xena looked up at her men. 'Does anyone here have a problem with Gabrielle?'

Everyone were silent. 'Good! Now we have more important matters at hand! Callisto will be here before nightfall! If we are to save the Emperor and protect this village we have to stop her now! Once and for all! This is the last stand!'

The warriors looked among themselves. Lila looked at Gabrielle as if she had a million questions that needed answers. Villagers turned terrified at the news of Callisto coming.

'She will come through that pass, followed by hundreds of men. This is our last chance, men. Some will die tonight. But we will die fighting for what we believe in! We will fight until our last breath is no more! We will not give up! We will stand and fight!' Xena yelled and her men cheered her on. Brutus watched her and Gabrielle swore she saw a bit of admiration in his eyes.

'We have to form a line of defence. The villagers should pack only what is necessary and leave within the hour-'

'No!' Gabrielle turned to her sister. 'Lila!'

Lila took a step forward.

'This is our village, this is our land!' she said. her body was shaking. she looked around the villagers. 'We will fight to protect it! We will show Callisto that you do not mess with the Emperor or his people!' This time it was the villagers who cheered.

Xena smiled at the younger brunette. 'You're not much different from Gabrielle here,' Xena muttered. 'Alright! Those who wish to fight, can fight! But I want any women with children to leave this place! Same goes for the old ones!' The villagers nodded at their new orders and quickly started packing, as well as some went to find anything they could use as a weapon. Lila helped her father inside the house.

Gabrielle walked over to Xena.

'Xena, even with the villagers at our side, we still don't have enough men to match Callisto's army,' Xena could only nod.

'We need an element of surprise,' she muttered and gazed at the pass in front of her.

'What are you thinking about?' Gabrielle asked.

'I'm wondering if we can create a rock avalanche from up there,' she pointed to the top of the pass. Several boulders could be seen on top.

'You think that will be enough to stop them,' Gabrielle asked a bit unsure.

'No but if we double the amount of boulders on both sides, it might be enough to take down at least half of Callisto's men,'

'And Callisto too?' Perdicus asked as he came up behind them.

'No, Callisto knows better than to be in the front of her army. She will be in the back,' Xena muttered.

'Perdicus, I want you to take with you half our men to the top of that pass and collect as many boulders and rocks as you possibly can. Make sure to find a way for all of it to be dropped at my signal.'

'On it,' Perdicus gave Gabrielle a clap on the shoulder before leaving.

'What do you want me to do, Xena?' Gabrielle asked as she watched the villagers work fast.

'You're going to help set up traps at the defence line. Also we need to find as many items as possible that can work as weapons,'

Gabrielle just nodded and got ready to leave as well but Xena stopped her.

'Gabrielle,' Xena said as she grabbed Gabrielle's shoulder.

'Be careful.. if anything happens to you-'

'Don't worry, Xena. We're gonna get through this,'

'I mean it, Gabrielle. I can't lose you,' the tall warrior whispered.

Gabrielle could only stare at her.

'You're not going to lose me,' she whispered back and softly touched Xena's cheek.

'Promise me. Promise me you won't do anything rash during this attack. I won't allow you getting hurt,' Xena muttered as she leaned her forehead against the blonde's.

Gabrielle just simply stared into her eyes, leaned in and kissed the taller warrior softly on the lips. It only lasted for a second but it was enough to reassure both warriors that everything would be fine. 'I promise,' Gabrielle muttered before she ran off.

Xean sighed and watched her run. She turned to look at the sun slowly turning in for the day.

This was their last chance.

* * *

_D'awwwwwwww! If a kiss would happen like that on the actual show I would've died a happy girl! _

_Now excuse me while I go watch Cougar Town! the show is totally killing me here!_


	17. The Last Sunset

_OMG! Is this... not it can't be! but it is! IT'S AN UPDATE! Sorry for the long wait, people, but here it is! it was originally shorter, and acted as a build up to the fight, but then I realized how incredibly short it really was and I thought 'No.. that's just bloody mean!' so yeh ^^'_

_currently my cat (yes, the great inspiration to Horace) is resting his head on my arm, making it very* hard for me to write so I'm just going to end it here XD Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: _I do not own any of the characters in Xena, nor do I own Disney's Mulan... Tho I do own the mice running in the high grass^^_**

* * *

_You can not run away from weakness_

_you must fight it out or perish_

_and if that be so_

_ why not now, and where you stand?_

/*/

'How are things going along?' The tall warrior came to a halt next to Perdicus who took the opportunity to wipe off the sweat forming on his forehead.

'We're working as fast as we can, Captain,' he said as Xena observed her men.

'Callisto's close... I can feel it. We better be ready by nightfall,'

Perdicus looked out into the horizone and watched the sun slowly go down.

'We're not going to survive the night are we?' he said.

Xena didn't look at him. She just sighed. 'I'm not going to lie to you, Perdicus... People are going to die today. For most of us this will be the last time we see the sun go down,'

'Well, if I'm going down tonight.. I'll make sure I take at least fifty of Callisto's men with me,' Perdicus said with a wink which made Xena chuckle a little.

'I'll have you take down no less than a hundred, soldier,' she answered jokingly.

Perdicus laughed and turned to look over at the other side of the cliff.

'We're done on the other side and pretty much done here too. I'll have a few men make sure that rocks will fall once triggered, but other than that we're ready here. You need more men down by the village?' Perdicus asked.

'A few more men would be good. Have them sent down as soon as you can,' the taller warrior answered before returning to the village.

Once down by the village Xena immediatly groaned as Brutus approached her.

'Xena, this is not a good idea! We are putting these villagers in immediate danger by doing this! And having them fight by our side? it's an outrage!'

'What do you expect us to do then, Brutus? We got no other way! Callisto is set on destroying everything in her path, which means these villagers are doomed unless we stop her now!' Brutus only stared at her. 'Now get out of my way, I got work to do!' Xena pushed past the advisor and headed straight for Gabrielle and her sister who were busy covering up trap holes.

'How are things going?' she asked as she approached the sisters.

'Almost done here,' Lila answered and continued to work.

'And your father?'

'He's escaping over the pass with the other villagers who aren't fighting,' Gabrielle answered as she finished up her hole.

'And they're at a safe enough distance?'

'The villagers left maybe three hours ago, so I would maybe think so,'

'Good...' Xena turned to watch the sun go down behind hills. She closed her eyes and began to listen. Gabrielle watched her as she listened to the sounds of the wind. Lila didn't seem to understand what she was doing, but Gabrielle knew perfectly well.

She was trying to hear Callisto's approaching army.

Gabrielle did the same and began to listen. She could hear the leafs dancing in the wind and the sound of footsteps belonging to villagers who were staying behind to fight, mice running in the tall grass, the birds beating their wings... and then she heard it. Her eyelids shut open and she looked over at Xena who was already looking at back at her.

'They're here,'

%&¤&)?)(=&%)¤#¤%&(?(&=%)¤#¤#%¤&%=&?%¤%#¤%¤&%&%¤#(¤%&%¤)

Callisto could see the village of Potidaea near.

She smirked. A wicked smirk, filled with bloodlust and madness.

She came to a halt and placed a firm hand on Theodorus' chest to stop him to. He signalized for everyone to stop in their tracks.

Callisto turned to face them, with nothing but madness showing in her eyes. She chuckled as her wide eyes scanned her army. You could almost mistake it for being a nervous chuckle. Her gaze stopped at Theodorus. She took up a dagger from its sheath and began tracing his chest with it.

He didn't move, nor flinch.

With a shaky voice she said. 'I want no survivors, okay? Can you do that? hmm?' she tilted her head and smiled almost adoringly up at her warrior.

'Yes, Callisto,' he said and unsheathed his sword.

'Good. Now go, and make me proud, boys!' she cried out, alarming the villagers of her presence.

From the village side, Xena was standing ready, ahead of her own army, with her sword in one hand and her chakram in the other.

Xena's eyes widened as she noticed Callisto was ahead of her army, rather than in the far back as she had first expected.

'Let them fall!' she roared, signalizing for the boulders the fall. The warriors that were positioned on top of the cliffs pulled the triggers, but nothing happened.

The boulders would not move.

'Xena! Something is wrong!' Gabrielle yelled and Xena saw it too. 'No! We need that element of surprise!'

The warriors began to push the boulders but they wouldn't budge. They were stuck in their places.

'Son of a Bacchae!' Xena shouted and called for her men to unsheathe their swords. Callisto's army was quickly approaching.

'Gabrielle looked around and took in her surroundings. She looked up at the cliffs and tried to calculate what needed to be done for the boulders to fall.

And then it hit her. 'The cannons!' she yelled and turned towards the village.

Xena looked behind her. 'Gabrielle! Where are you going!' she yelled.

'I've got an idea!' she ran over to the supply wagon, sheathed her sword and started rummaging through the supplies. After a few seconds she found what she was looking for. 'Yes!' she exclaimed as she found the cannons. she grabbed one with her and ran back to where Xena was standing.

Callisto was closing in.

As soon as Xena noticed Gabrielle and what was in her hands she shook her head. 'What in Tartarus do you think you're playing at? You're going to shoot a cannon at her?'

'Not exactly,' she muttered. 'If I can hit the cliffside, it might be enough to make the boulders move and cause the rock avalanche,'

'Are you crazy? You're not even close enough! No, Gabrielle it's too dangerous!' Xena tried to grab Gabrielle by the arm, but she stepped back.

'We don't have enough time to fight over this!' she yelled. 'This is my home, and I am not going to let anything happen to it!'

With that she ran. She ran up the hill, toward the cliffs, toward Callisto and her army of savages.

Once she was close enough for the cannon to hit its target she quickly dropped to the ground. The Goddess of Love popped up behind her.

'Are you _trying _to get yourself killed, Blondie?'

'No,' was Gabrielle's simple answer. 'I'm trying to get _her_ killed,' she watched as Callisto was quickly closing the distance.

She lit the cannon and it shot straight into the cliff-side. 'Nice knowing ya!' was all the Goddess said before she disappeared.

A rumble was heard and the earth shook. Callisto and her men stopped in her tracks and looked up just as the skies above them were filled with massive boulders with only one intention. To take them out.


	18. No Going Back

_Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! A lot has happened over the few months and I really haven't had the time to update.. sorry! but I'm here now! Oh and btw I MET HUDSON LEICK! And she was so sweet and kind it was almost scary! It was like Callisto was playing with your mind to freak you out! I LOVED IT! and now I'm gonna shut up ^^' sorry, had to get that out!_

_Thank you to those who added my story to alert and to those who are still reading this ^^' you guys rock! Currently I'm trying to find the rough copy of my remaining chapters but no such luck, so right now I'm kiiinda writing what I remember ^^' have fun!_

**Disclaimer:_ I do not own, Callisto's fucked up mind... nor anything to do with Xena or Mulan!_**

* * *

The savages didn't even get the time to process what was happening. The rocks hit them hard and fast. Although she couldn't see anything due to the smoke, Gabrielle could here the bones crushing as the rocks took the warriors out in their single blow.

As the smoke began to clear, Gabrielle smiled.

It had worked! The rock avalanche took them all!

She turned to Xena and the villagers and raised her arms up in triumph.

'We did it!' Gabrielle yelled as she began to head down the hill towards the village. Towards Xena.

Gabrielle stopped in her tracks as something caught her mind. It had been too easy... Gabrielle had seen the size of Callisto's army. The rock avalanche couldn't have taken them all. Something was wrong.

'GABRIELLE! BEHIND YOU!' she turned around in one swift motion and unsheathed her sword in the same process.

Callisto was standing above her with her sword raised high in the air. Gabrielle's eyes went wide with shock and she barely managed to dodge Callisto sword as it went for her with deadly intent. She jumped to the side and tried to get some space between them.

Callisto stood there shaking. Her eyes were wide and she had a menacing grin on her face. She had lost her mind.

'Think you can do that, little girl? Think you can just take out half my army and get away with that?' Callisto cocked her head.

'half..?' Gabrielle whispered under her breath, not able to believe it. She looked up where the rock avalanche had taken its victims. The smoke cleared and on top of the rocks stood maybe fifty men ready to attack. Callisto raised her sword again and screamed as she ran towards Gabrielle.

Gabrielle went to block her attack again, but the warrior struck with such an intense blow that Gabrielle lost grip of the sword. The sword made a clattering sound as it hit the rough ground. Gabrielle lost her footing and landed just out of reach.

To Gabrielle, it felt like everything was in slow motion. The savages ran past them, the eyes only on what they thought were defenseless villagers. Callisto smiled her wicked smile and raised her sword once again.

Gabrielle closed her eyes as the sword slashed through the air with only one intent.

To take her life.

But the blow never came. There was no sharp pain.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and looked up, only to find Xena standing above her. Her sword was clashing with Callisto's.

'Gabrielle, get out of here!' she gritted her teeth as she tried to push Callisto away.

Callisto only laughed. 'Trying to save your girlfriend, Xena?'

Xena striked at her and Callisto dodged while trying to make the warrior princess trip. Xena jumped to the side and striked again.

'Leave her alone,' Xena snared and swung her sword.

Callisto blocked it easily. 'You couldn't save your brother, Xena! What makes you think you can save her?'

Xena froze. 'Xena!' Gabrielle yelled, trying to get her attention. It wasn't working.

'Xena, snap out of it!' she tried again. She looked back at the village. The villagers were in full battle with the savages. A couple of the traps had been triggered and some of the villagers were able to hold up their own fight. But it was looking grim.

Callisto swung her sword at Xena, not expecting Gabrielle to jump in front of her and block it. She had managed to crawl over and grab her sword just in time.

The action made Xena snap out of her daze again. 'What makes you think you can save any of them!' Callisto screamed.

'I'm just going to kill them all! I'm going to bathe in your blood and once that's over I'm going for the Emperor! Nothing can stop me, and everyone will bow at my feet!' the crazed warrior gloriously called out as she raised her sword high in the air and twirled on the spot before she bowed with yet another menacing grin.

Xena gripped her sword harder and walked past Gabrielle. 'Not today!' She growled and swung her sword hard, surprising Callisto in the process. Although she didn't let her guard down and blocked it swiftly.

'Gabrielle, go! Go and help the others! I'll handle Callisto!' Xena called over her shoulder.

'But,'

'GO!' she yelled again, finally causing Gabrielle to move to the other direction.

Xena was right. She had to help the others. She stood no chance against Callisto, but at least she could do her part and help Lilla and Perdicus. With Xena, she could only be in the way. Xena could handle Callisto. They were each others equal. She had faith in Xena.

Down at the village, everything was a mess, and she had a hard time dodging people tumbling over.

'Gabrielle!' she turned around to find Perdicus punching a massive man with blonde messy hair, in the face.

The other warrior fell to the ground with a hard blow. He was out cold.

...

Either Perdicus was stronger than he looked or that guy was a lot weaker than he looked...

Gabrielle wasn't sure on which theory to fully believe in.

He walked up to Gabrielle and wiped away the blood on his forehead. Most of it was already dry so trying to wipe it away didn't really do anything.

'Where's Lilla?' Gabrielle yelled through the noise.

Perdicus pointed at something behind her and she turned to see. Lilla was standing by a burning building, kneeing a tall man in the groin.

Gabrielle had never been so proud, as she was at that moment.

'AAH!' Gabrielled heard Perdicus fall to the ground behind her. She fell to her knees by his side.

'Lilla!' she called out in desperation. The sister slashed another man before she turned to the source of the noise.

she was by their side within seconds.

'What happened?' she called out as she landed on her knees as well.

'Someone shot him with an arrow,' Gabrielle murmured as she applied pressure on the wound.

Perdicus gritted his teeth in pain as she applied more pressure. 'You got to get him out of here. We can't tend to him here,'

'How am I supposed to get him through the village? We'll be killed before we reach the forrest!' Lilla protested.

'You can do it, Lilla! I have faith in you,' Gabrielle said as she grabbed Lilla by her shoulders.

'Perdicus is not going to die today! Now I need you to do this! For him,'

Lilla looked down at the man by her knees.

She gave a simple nod and Gabrielle helped her to get Perdicus back on his feet. The arrow had pierced his lower right side.

He groaned as he leaned is weight over Lilla. Lilla groaned too. 'He's heavy!' she exclaimed.

'Just go!'

They went as fast as they could, while they tried to dodge as many people as possible. No one really seemed to take notice to them, as they were busy with their own battles.

Gabrielle looked around for the possible shooter. Then she saw him. a burly, tall man. his skin was tan and dirty and his hair was as dark as the inside of a cave.

he was standing on top of a burning wagon with an evil smile. His bow resting by his side and his sword in the other hand.

'FOR CALLISTO!' he yelled as he threw away the bow, raised his sword high and jumped of the wagon. He ran towards her with incredible speed, despite his big size.

'Not today,' Gabrielle whispered, mimicking what Xena had said earlier. a meter away and Gabrielle swung her sword and slashed his throat.

The man's eyes were wide with shock as he fell to his knees. He grasped at his throat as if trying to stop the blood from pouring out.

He hadn't expected that, and Gabrielle knew it. He thought of her as a simple and small girl, not being able to defend herself.

It had been the last mistake he ever made. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground.

Gabrielle then realized, at that moment, she had lost her blood innocence. She hadn't thought of it once during her training that there would be a time when she would draw blood. Not even when she had heard the news that they were going after Callisto. Not even when she first saw the army approaching... it hadn't reached her mind until his warm blood had hit her face.

Technically she had already lost her blood innocence when she started the rock avalanche. but it wasn't the same. She hadn't killed those men, the rocks had. Sure, she had started the avalanche but it was the rocks who took the lives. This time she had blood on her hands.

It dazed her for a bit. Taking someone's life. Now everything had changed, and there was no going back.

She gripped her sword harder. This was ending now. another savager approached her and only one thought was on her mind.

Cut.

and she did.

* * *

Aaaaand that is it for now! I feel like this fic has completely died but I made myself a promise, the same promise I made you guys, and that was to finish this fic. it will probably only be a few more chapters and then it will be done ^^'

And yes, the man Gabby killed was Theodorus^^' I thought it was slightly fitting XD Now if I don't update before Christmas I just want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL! And if this is the last chapter of 2011 then I want to say IT HAS BEEN A LOVELY YEAR WITH YOU GUYS!

Also remember! R/R makes me smile!


	19. Listen Not Just To The Sound

_So so so so so so so so so so sorry for not updating for half a year... worst part is that this is the last chapter.. and I feel very bad for taking so long to finish the whole thing ^^' But now it's closing to and end! So I hope you've enjoyed this fanfic aaand yeh... have fun ^^_

_Btw.. anyone going to the London film and anime Con this summer? :D_

**Disclaimer: _I own nothing.. Xena and Mulan... not mine! Nope..._**

* * *

Chapter 19

'You don't deserve the title _Warrior Princess_!' Callisto spat out as she lashed at Xena with her sword. Xena dodged it.

It seemed like Callisto was no longer using any strategies. just swung her sword in pure rage.

Xena dodged another attack and swung her leg in a round kick, trying to hit her head. She missed but proceeded with a front kick, right in Callisto's gut. The blonde warrior tumbled backwards.

'Give it up, Callisto! I will never let you get to the Emperor!' Xena yelled as she held up her sword defensively.

Callisto laughed. 'Oh Xena, Xena, Xena. My dear Xena... Can't you see that I am winning? Your men are being slaughtered out there!' she glared at the tall warrior.

'Mark my words, W_arrior Princess..._ I will kill you. slowly and painfully. And when I'm done with you I will kill your little blonde too, and I will enjoy every second of it. I will bathe in her blood, and there's nothing you can do about it,' she said with a mad smile before she cried out and raised her sword high. She ran towards the warrior princess.

She lashed with her sword over and over, and Xena blocked each strike. 'If you touch her...' Xena said through gritted teeth. 'You're gonna do what? Kill me?' Callisto smiled before she elbowed Xena in the face, completely knocking her off-guard. Callisto kicked her in the stomach and sent her to the ground. 'That's what so sad about you, Xena... your compassion makes you weak.' Callisto stared down at the body lying on the ground. Xena was out cold.

'Like I said... you don't deserve the title _Warrior Princess_' she muttered before she raised her sword up high.

'XENA!' Callisto turned to find Gabrielle running towards her. 'Great... the annoying blonde.'

Callisto sneared and raised her sword to block Gabrielle's attack. 'Honey, the grown ups are trying to have a conversation here,' she said mockingly as she easily disabled the young blonde and backhanded her.

Gabrielle pretended she lost balance and fell down on her back.

'Pathetic' Callisto muttered as she stopped right in front of the young blonde and raised her sword. Gabrielle showed a hint of a smirk as she used all her strength and kicked Callisto hard in both her knees.

She cried out in pain ash she dropped her sword and bent down, grabbing her knees. Gabrielle proceeded with kicking her with both legs right in the face. Callisto tried to regain her balance as she walked backwards.

Gabrielle got to her feet quickly.

Callisto shook her and wiped the nosebleed of her face. 'I'm going to enjoy killing you' she muttered and grabbed her sword from the ground.

She swung her sword up high, cried out and ran towards Gabrielle, with murder in her eyes.

'Gabrielle! Catch!' The blonde warrior turned to her left and watched as Xena threw her chakram.

_She raised the staff above her head for everyone to see. 'This is how fast I want you all to be! You all noticed how fast Gabriel here caught the arrow. He acted on instinct! It's the most important weapon you have gentlemen! Your instinct! Your gut feeling! That little voice in the back of your head telling you when you should block or attack!'_

Instinct. She watched as the Chakram came towards her, almost in slow motion.

_Now! _a voice said and Gabrielle didn't hesitate. She grabbed the chakram with her right hand, her fingers closed around the handle.

Callisto was closing up on her.

Gabrielle let out her breath, closed her eyes for a split of a second. She swung the chakram in front of her and slit Callisto's throat in the process. The same way she had slit the throat of the burly, dark warrior before.

Her eyes widen with shock as she walked backwards. She fell on her knees and lost her sword. Her fingers traced the wound and then she carefully looked down at the blood on her hands.

She looked up at the two warriors one last time, before she fell to the ground. Gabrielle looked down at the bloody chakram in her hand. She had killed Callisto.

She dropped the chakram and then ran over to Xena. 'Are you ok?' She asked concerned as Xena got up from the ground.

'I'm ok,' I think I got a broken rib though. She muttered weakly as she leaned against Gabrielle.

Xena turned her attention towards the the villagers and her warriors fighting for their lives and their nation. It was as if with Callisto's death everything changed.

The savages were fleeing. And we were actually winning.

The tall warrior turned to her blonde companion. Gabrielle looked up into her blue eyes and smiled. 'We did it,' she whispered. 'We did,' Xena answered and leaned in for a kiss.

She kissed with all her might and refused to let go.

She was never going to let go.

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_Later..._

The surviving villagers were putting out the fire and taking care of the wounded, and the remaining warriors were rounding up the savage corpses.

Gabrielle spottet Perdicus among the wounded. He was awake and seemed fine, despite being hit by an arrow. Lila was leaning over him, stroking his hand. Gabrielle couldn't help but smile at the scene.

'I got to say... they look rather cute together,' Xena muttered as she came up behind Gabrielle. She placed a hand on blonde's shoulder and Gabrielle smiled at the touch.

The sun rose in the horizon and people started gathering around. A few villagers volunteered to go look for the ones that had fled, and Xena sent two scouts to send the good news to the Emperor.

People were cheering as Xena, Gabrielle and the remaining warriors gathered in the town square. They yelled their names over and over. Brutus was standing on the sidelines, scolding over the scene.

He might have lived to see another day thanks to Xena and Gabrielle, but that didn't mean he disliked them any less. 'Xena?' he said as he came up behind the tall warrior.

Xena turned around and nodded in acknowledgment. 'Brutus'

'The Emperor will hear about this. This is not over,' he said as he crossed his arms.

'Brutus. Where were you during the battle? Hiding?' Brutus didn't answer. 'We saved this village, protected the Emperor and stopped Callisto,' Xena said.

'Gabrielle is nothing but a hero. If it hadn't been for her bravery... We wouldn't have made it tonight. You owe her your life,' Xena said as she poked Brutus' chest. 'You can tell the Emperor that,' and with that she walked over to Gabrielle, Lila and the others.

Aphrodite popped up behind Brutus with a bucket of popcorn. No one noticed her as she cocked her head to the left and asked 'Want some?'

Next to her, Ares the God of War, popped up. 'Sure, why not,' she answered and took a handful. 'Humans... They can be so entertaining,' he muttered with a smirk.

'Now... tell me again why you paired up Xena with that perky blonde? I'm starting to wonder if you're losing your touch...' Aphrodite hit Ares on the shoulder.

'Oh shush you! You're just made Xena has paid more interest in Gabrielle than you,'

'Well... yeah! Of course! I'm a god! No one can resist me!' he whined.

Aphrodite just stared at him.

'Let it go, bro...' she answered dryly. He pouted.

'Well... Pretty good battle, at least' he said at last and then vanished into thin air.

Perdicus, with the help of Lila, walked up to Gabrielle and gave her a weak hug. 'I'm proud of you, Gabby' he said with a smile.

Behind him came the triplets. It seemed like none of them were completely sure of what to say, or who was going to speak first. Gabrielle just walked up to them and gave them all a hug. 'I love you guys' she said, which made them all smile with pride.

...

...

Later that day, Gabrielle was sitting in the tall grass and leaned against the trunk of a tree. 'Her courage would change the world...' she muttered as she scribbled away on a parchment.

Everyone in Potidaea were celebrating the fall of Callisto. Gabrielle had decided not to join in on the party.

She rather wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet and work on her stories.

It was silent, but not really. she heard the sound of the dripping water, the birds, villagers laughing in the distance, mice running through the grassy ground and footsteps behind her.

Gabrielle smiled. 'What took you so long?'

'You heard me coming?' Xena sat down in the grass next to her .

'Listen not just to the sounds, but what's behind the sounds.' Gabrielle smiled up at the warrior knowingly and Xena just laughed softly.

'You know, the first day at camp... That wasn't the first time I had seen you, Gabrielle,'

Gabrielle turned to face the older woman. 'No?'

'No. When I was younger, around 13, my father brought me here to Potidaea for a business deal. He left me to wander around the marked for myself. I walked past a huge fountain and there was a young darkhaired girl and a darkhaired boy around my age, wrestling and trying to get each other in the water.. Sitting on the edge of the fountain, was a blonde girl, slightly younger than the boy, smiling and cheering them on. She had the most beautiful eyes and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen...'

Gabrielle just smiled at Xena as she told her story. Gabrielle remembered that day so well. 'Then the boy accidently pushed you into the fountain and I ran over to get you out.'

'Wait, that was you?' Xena nods.

'I ran away as soon as you caught your breath. But I want you to know, that on that day, I fell in love. I fell in love with the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. You.' She turned towards the younger blonde and smiled.

'Xena, you were merely 13' Gabrielle said with a smile. 'I knew what I felt then. And my feelings haven't changed since,' Xena whispered as she leaned in and captured the blonde's soft lips with her own.

FINALLY! NO INTERRUPTIONS THIS TIME! NO SIR!

poof! 'FINALLY!' Both women turned to the voice with clear annoyance written on their faces. Just had to curse it...

'What's with the glares, blondie?' Aphrodite asked confused.

Gabrielle rose from the grass and walked over to the goddess. It looked like she was going to hit her but instead she took her into a big hug. 'Thank you Aphrodite.' She whispered.

'aww anytime girl, anytime.' Aphrodite hugged the young blonde back.

Xena walked up behind Gabrielle and smiled at them both warmly as she placed a hand on her Gabrielle's shoulder. Gabrielle turned around to face the taller warrior and leaned into her embrace.

At that moment, Gabrielle couldn't be any happier. 'I love you too, Xena' she whispered.

Aphrodite just stood there with tears in her eyes. 'My little blonde babe is all grown up... I promised myself I wouldn't cry, I promised myself I wouldn't cry... anyone got a tissue?'

.

The End

* * *

_And that is it... I finally wrapped up this fic, and I really couldn't be happier... Thank you all for being a part of Gabrielle's journey, for reviewing and helping me become better ^^ _

_Love you all!_

_~Tilly _


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